Crossroads
by TTrin
Summary: Set in the 3 years before the androids. An experiment of Bulma goes wrong, resulting in a young woman from another reality and a Saiyan getting stranded on a planet... Caution: Highly addictive A/U ahead. Could cause psychotic episodes if forced to wait.
1. Prelude

This is my first fanfic, A/U set in the three years before the androids. Has a bit B/V, but the main focus will be on two original characters.  
  
I apologize in advance for probably not being able to update regularly, but I have exams next month *gulps*  
  
No flames please.  
  
  
  
I dedicate this story to Hella, because without her encouragement I wouldn't have managed to do it. :-)  
  
Disclaimer: I don't owe DBZ and don't get paid for writing. But I do own my two original characters. Don't sue, please  
  
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Bulma Briefs was standing in front of her latest invention, excitement clearly showing on her face. Impatiently she shifted her weight from one foot to another while supervising the technicians who were doing a last check-up on the contraption standing in the middle of the big lab.  
  
"Can't this be faster?" she muttered to herself nervously and pushed her hair out of her face. She sighed. She knew everything had to be checked thoroughly and they were working as fast as possible. There mustn't be the slightest mistake, even a tiny one could endanger the machine and probably their lives as well.  
  
The machine… She gazed at it and couldn't suppress a rush of pride.  
  
It didn't look very spectacular. A big rectangle made of specially enforced hollow steel bars stood in the middle of the room like a doorway, the ends fastened to the floor. Leading from holes drilled into the bars thick cables ran to a big computer right next to her. That was it. Not exactly an impressive sight.  
  
But looks can be deceiving and that was certainly the case here.  
  
Bulma smiled to herself. The real impressive thing about it wasn't visible to the eye. If it worked…  
  
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Rather by accident than on purpose she had discovered that different kinds and amounts of energy combined and directed at a special metal alloy had a similar effect like Goku's Instant Transmsission. The only difference was you didn't have to concentrate on a certain Ki to get to that person, it was enough to calculate the point where you wanted to be.  
  
She had been very enthusiastic about her discovery and made Goku come as son as he could to find out as much as she could of his technique. Unfortunately he hadn't been a big help.  
  
"Ummm, sorry Bulma, I really don't know how to explain what I do. I just do. I concentrate on someone and then I'm there."  
  
"But you *have* to know how you do it. Those people taught it to you, right? So maybe you could teach me…" she asked eagerly but her friend interrupted her shaking his head.  
  
"No, that doesn't work. I could teach you if you had enough Ki to do it but you haven't."  
  
"But couldn't you try and describe in detail what you do and when you do it?"  
  
"Hey, it's not that easy, I can't just put it in words when it's like a reflex, I just do it without thinking so much about it."  
  
"Hmpf…" Bulma glared at him annoyed, she still wasn't convinced he couldn't do it. She knew it was easier to learn something you had the capability to do, like, flying for instance. But she still thought anything like this could at least be explained if not experienced.  
  
She had bugged Yamcha years ago telling her how to fly and he had given her a vagues description about Ki flowing and directing it in a certain way. Needless to say, it hadn't helped her a bit, but at least he had tried. On the other hand, maybe he had just told her something to stop her bothering him about it, she thought narrowing her eyes but dismissing the thought at once. She'd been getting way too paranoid lately.  
  
"Goku!"  
  
"Huh?" said her startled friend who had patiently watched her thinking on high speed. You could always tell when Bulma was thinking hard on something, she had this glazed, faraway look but she could instantly snap out of it, like she had then.  
  
"I have a brilliant idea, how about this: You're doing your instant transmission and I monitor you?"  
  
"Monitor me?" asked Goku warily, "how exactly?"  
  
"Oh", Bulma waved her hand dismissively, "I guess I'd need to connect you to some machines scanning your power output and stuff…"  
  
"No needles!" he stated flatly.  
  
"Sure, no needles" she replied.  
  
"Okay, no problem", Goku smiled at her, "but how are you going to scan my power output?"  
  
Bulma blinked at him, she hadn't thought of that yet. "I know!" she exclaimed. "That old scouter from Radditz, I still have it and maybe if I can modify it a bit and…." she trailed of. "I'll call you when I'm ready, okay? Maybe Vegeta will help me a bit with that thing. He used it all the time after all."  
  
"Yeah, sure Bulma, just call." Goku smiled and waved at her, put two fingers on his forehead and a second later he was gone.  
  
Bulma ran happily out of the room in search of Vegeta. He had to help her with this.  
  
In fact Vegeta had helped her a lot. After she had explained her idea and told him what she needed he'd been was quite forthcoming about the scouter, smirking smugly and explaining the device to her, enjoying the fact that for once *he* was the one explaining a technical device to *her*.  
  
There were lots of tiny technical details one had to take into consideration when working with a scouter, he'd had to learn everything about them so he could repair it himself if needed. Usually nobody in Freeza's army had a spare scouter, so knowing the device inside out had been essential. Callibrate one thing wrong and the next you knew was the scanner exploding in your face or indicating wrong power levels.  
  
Inwardly he was sure she could've found out by herself, but he'd never admit that aloud. And if he was honest he'd had to admit he liked the fact that she'd come to him and ask about it rather than figure it out by herself.  
  
She hadn't minded his superior attitude at that moment, for one he showed that almost all the time and secondly she had enjoyed sitting next to him discussing things with their heads bent and almost touching, looking at the tiny insides of the scouter. She'd had to concentrate hard, him being so near gave ideas that were very far from science. He had obviously noticed that, his voice betraying his amusement and one of his hands straying to her knee to tickle her. 'Sadist' she fumed inwardly but enjoying his touch too much to do something about it. 'Just wait, tonight I'll get you for that.'  
  
And she had.  
  
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"Are you daydreaming? Or didn't you get enough rest last night you're sleeping standing?" Vegeta's voice snapped her out of her memories, his breath tickling the hair behind her ears. She jumped a little and turned around, seeing him in his usual pose, arms crossed, feet apart, radiating 'I'm better than all of you'-waves and smirking at the fact he'd starled her again.  
  
'Jerk!' she thought, 'you know exactly I didn't sleep much. And guess who's fault that was?', ignoring the fact he'd been not the only one guilty for her lack of sleep. Or his, for that matter.  
  
She growled playfully at him and grinned, too excited to be annoyed he'd caught her off guard again.  
  
At the voice of her father she turned around "Allright Bulma, the honor is yours." he said, his moustache twitching in anticipation. "Do you know the coordinates?" She nodded in affirmation.  
  
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The first tests with Goku and the machine she'd built according to the principles of the scouter to scan his power had gone well. After some hours of Goku doing repeated instant transmissions she'd gotten all the data she'd needed, and Goku had been visibly relieved the experiment was over. Not to speak of all the other people Bulma had begged into helping, staying in the exact location she'd told them so the results could be exact. They'd sat Muten Roshi in front of a television showing aerobics, so if anybody else had moved, Bulma would still have Roshi's results to compare to the others. The chances of that old hermit going anywhere with that kind of program on TV were nonexistent.  
  
The only downside of the tests she'd afterwards run was that she didn't get the same result as Goku.  
  
'Must be a Ki-thing' she thought, and try as she might she hadn't been able to do the same in the simulations. She only could calculate the bigger area, not the exact place. And the nearer the wanted location was the more inexact the results were. So no revolutionizing Earth's transport systems at this point. But aside from that point everything was perfect.  
  
Now the only thing to do was to test it in the field. They didn't want to really go to another place in the first test-run, they only wanted to see if they could see the place, like through a window. Or a doorway.  
  
They had decided trying on Earth could produce lots of problems when you don't know the place you would come out. People's bedrooms for example.  
  
Vegeta had helped out again, after having finally achieved SSJ he was in an incredibly good mood compared to his usual sarcasm-dripping self.  
  
Afer he had reached his goal he eased up a little bit. Not much, he was still like a walking spring-coil, ready at any moment to explode like planet Namek, but it helped. Bulma had been glad, he hadn't exactly been Prince Charming but the angry and bitter sting she'd heard in his voice before had lessened a bit. That fact had been good for their relationship that had started some time before, he was still tense whenever other people than Bulma or her parents were around but he didn't act like she was a contagious disease anymore as soon as someone entered the room. That attitude had pissed her off to no end and had been short of developing into a serious problem.  
  
Under Frieza Vegeta had been to many planets and knew a lot about them. So with his help they found the perfect planet: Lokran. Having been purged from anything resembling sentient life some decades ago, low on any valuable materials that could be mined or salvaged it was the perfect planet for their experiment. According to Vegeta no one ventured to this place, so they could conduct their experiment without any disturbances.  
  
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"Allright!" Bulma said, rubbing her hands together in anticipation. "Power it up."  
  
The monitor on the machine's computer showed several now slowly increasing columns indicating energy levels, pressure and other things, a hum filling the air as energy was flowing into the veins of the device. The steel bars being the boundary of the 'window' to the planet seemed to vibrate a bit as the humming sound increased.  
  
"Have you decided on a name for the device?" Bulma's father asked her when he came over to stand next to her.  
  
"Um.. no not yet." she admitted. "I want to see if it really works first, I think."  
  
Her father chuckled, he hadn't expected otherwise. "We'll see very soon." He smiled proudly at his daughter.  
  
"Required energy level reached" announced a technician. Bulma took a deep breath and reached for the keyboard, her stomach clenching in anticipation.  
  
"Okay. Here it comes." she said, pressing the button that started the instant-transmission-machine… thing… Damn, she had to think of a name very soon.  
  
Like everybody else she looked at the doorway standing in the room. The air between the steel bars seemed to flicker and shimmer a bit and suddenly she saw something. It must have been a building some time ago, she could see the corner of two walls, the one wall she saw completely had a big rugged hole in the middle of it, probably from an explosion. A bit of roof was obviously still intact because the area directly in front of her seemed a bit darker than what she saw of the outside through the blast hole. Pale yellow ruins and rubble, partly overgrown with plants resembling moss, above them a grey sky with ominous dark clouds.  
  
She was snapped out of looking at this strange landscape by the former humming sound of her invention getting louder and higher in frequency until it was a shrill screeching.  
  
Somehting had gone terribly wrong.  
  
From the corner of her eyes she saw a blinding flash in the doorway and suddenly it seemed like another landscape was where the first on was at the same time, overlapping each other. Like two different pictures on the same part of film in a camera, or like having one wrong contact lense in your eye so your mind struggles to make sense of two different pictures at the same time.  
  
  
  
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That's it for now. What do you think? Comments? Suggestions? Anything? Please? 


	2. Experiment Results

Sorry it took so long to update, but I had my intermediate diploma exams until the start of March. But I passed them, even Spanish! *grins happily*  
  
I want to thank all of you who left reviews, it means more to me than I could ever express with words :-)  
  
Oh, and I want to add that this fic has nothing whatsoever to do with Britney Spears. Nothing!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ. If only I did…  
  
But I own the characters appearing in this chapter (except Bulma).  
  
  
  
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"Shut it down! Shut the power down! Now!" Bulma screamed in panic, lunging at the computer to abort the running program. The technician standing closest to the exit got her meaning at once, and with a last aghast look at the flickering images he punched the red emergency knob next to the door, shutting off the power effectively in the whole lab and leaving the room in the eerie illumination of the emergency lights.  
  
The screeching noise ended abruptly and the different landscapes flickered once and then dissappeared, leaving the people attending the experiment staring in expressions ranging from confusion to alarm at the machine.  
  
"Oh damn…" the blue-haired woman said shakily and slid to the floor, trying to figure out what the hell went wrong.  
  
  
  
„Damn! Shit!" Zura yelled angrily as he beat his fist repeatedly against the ship's main console. Not the best way to get a piece of machinery to cooperate, but he had tried everything else without success. He had even resorted to begging, and that was a clear indication to his growing distress. He never talked to machinery. It was good that no one had witnessed it. Not that he gave a damn anyway about what anybody thought, but he had a repuation to uphold, and the picture of him pleading with the ship's main computer would not exactly go down well with his prospective employers. Hell, even he himself found it weird. And he would need money pretty soon, especially if he didn't think of something useful to stop his ship crashing on the planet and getting transformed into nice and handy little pieces of junk. Oh, wait, in that case he wouldn't need any money. Getting squashed and reduced to a red smear by the heavy bulk of a ship on impact usually has that effect.  
  
He continued to deepen the indention his fist on the console had made, his tail squeezing his waist unconsciously, and thought furiously. There was absolutely no way this should have happened.  
  
He had been on his way to another assignment after a rather messy but succesful job, enjoying the quiet and solitude after four weeks of sharing close quarters with people he didn't know but who he had to put up with for the time. The payment was good, but constantly being surrounded by strangers without an opportunity to be alone, really alone for some time, annoyed him. He'd been glad it was over.  
  
Half an hour ago, while flying though an part of space uninhabited for some time, he had picked up some strange energy readings nearby. His curiosity, and the fact he had more than enough time to get to his next employer, made him change course to investigate. Not to mention the fact that the flight had been starting to get extremely boring.  
  
The source of the energy readings had been on one of the planets a short distance away, Lokran according to the computer, one of those having been depopulated in the time people referred to as the 'Purging Period', a time not long ago, when entire planet populations had been wiped out by the orders of the tyrant Frieza.  
  
"Odd…. there shouldn't be any energy readings at all." he had muttered and steered his craft closer, planning to set a low orbit to find out what he could with the ship's instruments. Who knew, maybe it was a kind of natural new energy source that could be exploited somehow. And since he'd be the one to discover it he could sell it to the highest bidder. It was a far- fetched theory, but more likely than the possibility of someone hiding out here from authorities. Even though this particular stretch of space wasn't a main traffic route it was frequented regularly, and people trying to hide tend to camouflage any energy outputs, no matter where they hide.  
  
The ship had had other plans though. As he neared ther planet's outer atmosphere the instruments had suddenly stopped being responsive to his orders. The readings just hadn't made sense. According to them the energy output on the planet had been rising rapidly, and with growing alarm he had noticed his craft changing course slightly as if drawn by an invisible rope to the source of the energy.  
  
He had tried to get his emergency program to kick in – designed for incidents just like this when the, after all you never know when someone tries to sabotage your ship – nothing. 'That just isn't possible!' his thoughts had screamed. The emergency program was separated from the normal ship's operations, able to overriding all usual working processes, and to 'reboot' the whole system. It had a well-maintained seperated power source and was completely independent, only tapping into the system when being ordered to do so by himself through a seperated console. And having costed a small fortune. By all means, it should have worked! How was that possible? He had stared for a long second unbelieving at the blank monitor and raced back to the main console.  
  
He had tried every trick he knew, and almost no one knew his ship as well as he did, after all, he was the one to repair it most of the time – but to no avail.  
  
As he expressed his feelings toward the ship, the emergency program, his situation and life in general in a more colorful variety of language he watched the planet's surface getting closer and closer as his ship plummeted towards the ground.  
  
He'd never felt so helpless in a his life and he hated it with a vengeance. He'd done what he could but it hadn't helped even a bit. He realized he was going to die, right here, in just a minute. His mind went numb. It just wasn't fair! It was just plainly not possible. Not like this! Getting squished by the ship that had been his home and sanctuary for years now was absolutely NO way to die for a Saiyan!  
  
"I won't to die like this!" he screamed in anger, futile rage filling him and erasing any sarcastic remark his mind would have come up with in answer to his stupid refusal of the inevitable. Intent on destroying the most obvious and near source of his predicament he raised his fist with a snarl to smash the main console, only to barely manage to stop it before intact when all of a sudden the traiterous instruments came back to normal life.  
  
For a seemingly endless part of a second he stared, frozen, at the familiar display on the monitor, its lights blinking cheerily at him. Then instinct kicked in and he activated everything stopping or slowing his rapid descent.' Upwards thrusters, upwards thrusters…' his thoughts chanted in a frenzy. "Shit!" he screamed when only 2 of 4 thrusters started working, the ship rocking violently. It really had been stupid to damage the console. But two were still better than none, and with them he would probably survive the crash…probably…  
  
He dived at his seat and fumbled with the safety straps, looking up involuntarily every second at the screen where the barren surface of Lokran came closer. After what seemd like an eternity he had strapped himself securedly in his seat and held on for dear life – literally…  
  
The impact was enormous, he felt as if every bone in his body was getting twisted and folded into a new shape.  
  
Then the security straps snapped as if they were made out of straw, the material yielding to the applied pressure only after cutting deeply into his flesh, and he was thrown out of his seat.  
  
It happened too quickly for him to do anything more than twisting and instinctively curling into a ball when he more felt than saw himself being catapulted towards the console.  
  
Zura screamed in agony, a white lance of incredible pain consuming body and mind. Oh Gods, his TAIL!  
  
It had been between the edge of the console and himself on impact, and he had felt several bones snapping. He didn't even know if he had any bones left there, it felt as if someone had injected his tail with strong acid. He noticed distantly that he had several other injuries, but nothing that could compete with the agony radiating from his lower spine in angry hot waves.  
  
Suppressing the pain enough to have coherent thoughts seemed completely impossible but he managed after a while, but he knew he could suppress it only a limited time span. Mind over matter was a nice principle, but when the particular matter was a severely damaged and sensitive limb the mind wouldn't stand a chance in the end. He had to use the time he had until his psyche lost the battle against his body.  
  
The ship had stopped moving, the metal still groaning occasionally, and with a low whirring sound the power shut down, leaving him in complete darkness. Just perfect, the emergency power was gone, too.  
  
Panting he struggled to his feet holding his damaged limb gingerly. He had to get out. Now. He could assess the damage later, right now he only wanted to escape the ship that had almost been his death trap, though it must be pretty bad if the stuff he stumbled over on his way out was any indication. After finding by touch the the compartment where he usually stored what he called 'useful stuff when dealing with a bunch of different species' that included his emergency medical supplies, he was relieved it was still intact and grabbed the pack on his way out.  
  
The opening mechanism for the ramp didn't work since the power was off, so he had to open it manually. Fortunately the ramp hadn't been too damaged, else he'd be stuck here a little longer. He didn't like the idea of cutting his way out of the ship – he would, if he had to, the necessary tools were there – but he'd rather not damage it more than it already was. Not to mention the fact that he started to feel the nerve endings in his tail and various other body parts starting to scream bloody murder again.  
  
With a protesting grinding noise the ramp lowered, light filtering in through the opening. He would get out of here. The ramp touched the ground with a metallic rasping sound and he staggered out, taking a few steps away from the ship. Finally free.  
  
At a sound from his left he jerked his head around. It's never a good idea making sudden movements with your head after a crash, and Zura had to agree when his vision started to blurr. Blinking dazedly he looked up to the edge of the low crater where the noise had originated. The astonishment of what he saw was only short-lived, because his body chose this moment to declare in an uncertain and very painful manner it had enough of being ignored. The pack slipped from his hand as he dropped to his knees, and with a last conscious effort he twisted sideways a little so he wouldn't fall on his tail – and then the world turned black and blissfully free of pain…  
  
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Svenja walked deep in thoughts down the street. The young woman shifted her bag to one arm for a moment to push some strands of black hair from her face.  
  
She had been at a wedding party of some distant friends, and even though it was nice to see some of the people attending the party again after so much time she felt miserable.  
  
It wasn't because of her ex. It hadn't bothered her as much as she'd thought it would to see him again. Really, she could care less if he was there at the party or not. Only the memories seeing him again surfacing weren't that pleasant, but she had just shoved them aside, as she always did. 'No use living in the past. You learned your lesson and never forget it. Deal with it. That's it.'  
  
And it also wasn't because she almost lost her holiday job the day before. She had forgotten to set her alarm clock, overslept and after washing and dressing in a hurry she had stumbled while running down the stairs still not fully awake, which had resulted in her crashing against the wall of the hallway face first, sporting an ugly looking bruise above her left eye that felt like a horn and her head swimming and not being able to concentrate on her work for the whole time, and at noon when she left a rather unpleasant talk with her boss. The wobbly feeling in her head had vanished by that time with help of some cups of coffee, but the bruise was still there.  
  
In fact she had felt miserable for some days now, and for the life of her she couldn't find out why. 'Must be a kind of spring depression. Spring, indeed…' she thought sourly and glared up to the sky, her face wet from the contant drizzle that had went on for hours now.  
  
Her thoughts went back to the evening. She had been happy for the couple, they had been together for years, and she honestly admired their courage to make a commitment like that. But she couldn't have helped noticing that the other guests and she had clearly drifted apart. She had felt so distanced, so… seperated somehow. Was it her fault? Had she changed so much? Or them? Or everybody? People change all the time, so why did it bother her so much right now?  
  
'Simple. Just try to be honest with yourself for once. They were the only ones left you still called friends without adding any restrictions to the word or the meaning. Gods, you're disgusting… Wallowing in self-pity again, are we? Get a life, idiot!' she scolded herself, shaking her head. That brought it to a point. She really should get a life, one clearly different from the one she had now, or she'd go crazy. "Or maybe I am already" she mused, at the same time cursing the alcohol still in her blood. She hadn't drunk that much, just a few glasses of wine, but enough to increase her present mood.  
  
Once again she shifted her bag, filled with leftovers from dinner and a bottle of wine, and turned into another street. She had refused the offer of her host to drive her home, somehow needing fresh air. Now she regretted it, the prospect of walking another 30 minutes with a increasingly heavy and soaking bag of food, and getting drenched thoroughly not exactly appealing. Just in time she was able to prevent the bag's contents from falling to the ground after its material suddenly lost the battle against weight and pressure and ripped at the bottom. Trying to hold the bag together she heaved a defeated sigh and trudged onward. Life couldn't get any more fucked up, or could it?  
  
Suddenly there was a feeling of nausea and something shifted. 'What the hell?!' she thought alarmed and squeezed her eyes shut. For a moment she had seen double, the street being in front of her and at the same time not. She grabbed the bag tightly and stopped, legs spread apart a bit to provide her with as much balance as possible. She didn't need another bruise to match the one she already had. 'Gods, you can't even stomach some wine. It really wasn't that much!' she told herself. After some seconds he sick feeling vanished and she opened her eyes.  
  
She was … somewhere else. Definitley somewhere else. For once, it had stopped raining abruptly. And it wasn't dark anymore. Not to mention the fact that the street had vanished, the houses… everything. What she saw resembled some of the towns in war areas she'd seen on TV, having been bombed to rubble, only much worse. It was a scene of destruction, pieces of a yellowish material resembling stone in every size from pebble to a small car, lying around as if a giant had stomped on a settlement and decided to do a little tap dance. A violent and enthusiastic one.  
  
It must have been a settlement once, there were still parts of houses discernable, though only small parts. And it was eerily silent. Not a sound except her own rapid breathing and the wind, nothing.  
  
Her head started to swim, any alcohol in her system being washed away by an enormous adrenalin rush, and she felt her legs getting weak. She sat down heavily, the bag still clutched in her arms as if it was the last thing connecting her to sanity. Which it most likely was.  
  
'Okay, deep breaths. Stop hyperventilating, it's nothing serious. Deep breaths, exhale long and slowly…' She shut her eyes again, trying to calm her body, but her thoughts raced. 'Gods, what's happening to me? I didn't hit my head that hard, right? And it can't be the wine. No way! And even if it was, I've never had any hallucinations! Oh shiiiiiiit….. I'm going to see a doctor. First thing in the morning! Promised! See? You're better now. Breathe normally. Now get up and go home!' Opening her eyes she noticed that the scenery hadn't changed a bit.  
  
Numbly she stood up and fought the rising panic. Still ruins and rubble everywhere. She set down her bag reluctantly, trying to ignore the wine bottle rolling out and stopping with a 'clong' where it met a wall.  
  
A wall? Taking in her surroundings she saw she was in a former building, with two and a half more or less intact walls and a small part of ceiling. The one in front of her was almost non-existant in the middle, a big part missing, and with its ragged edges the hole resembled a huge floor-to- ceiling window a mad designer had thought up in a frenzy of twisted modern art.  
  
"Okay." she said, speaking aloud had always helped her in a crisis. "No need to be upset, Svenja. Okay, that's a lie. Don't freak out. No need for that. Anyway. I'm clearly hallucinating. Or dreaming. Yes, that's it! I'm dreaming! A weird and sick dream, and realistic. But still a dream. Right!" she said relieved. It was the only logical explanation. She experimentally pinched herself hard. Nothing changed, but that seldom worked in dreams.  
  
"Okay. I only have to wait until I wake up. Just a matter of time. Can't be that long. Gods, what would Freud make out of that? Oh, forget that guy. He was sick in his own way…." she babbled on, just to hear something, but stopping after a while "I should wake up any minute now" she muttered hopefully, unconsciously rubbing her bruise  
  
She started pacing. She needed to DO something. Anything. Even if it was only walking back and forth like a caged animal. She shoved that image aside violently and continued pacing when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Huh? Stepping over the… opening in the wall she walked some meters to see it better. Looking up the grey sky she saw something moving through the massive dark clouds, flashing in and out of view.  
  
Whatever it was, it came closer. Very fast. And to be exact, coming closer very fast directly in her direction! She was rooted to the spot, watching the thing growing bigger by the second until she could make out its shape. Some kind of small… space ship??! Something ignited at the bottom of it, ripping her out of paralysis and she stumbled backwards.  
  
'I swear, tomorrow morning after seeing the doctor I'm going to get a book about dream symbolism' she thought faintly, watching in growing panic the vessel speeding seemingly right at her.  
  
"Oh shiiiit!" she yelled running back to the building and dove through the opening, scrambling away in fear. Dream or not – 'What do you mean, or not?' her mind yelled at her – she had absolutely no intentions getting tramsformed into a pancake shape by a flying object out of a science fiction movie.  
  
"This isn't happening. This isn't happening. This is ridiculous!…. NO!…"  
  
A deafening crashing noise washed over her, accompanied by a violent gust of dust and hot wind that slammed her into one of the still intact walls. Something seeemed to explode nearby, building pieces of various size were shooting around, and it was all she could do to huddle into a fetal position, protecting her head with her arms, all the while screaming out her fear and confusion and pain as she was showered by sharp pieces of rubble.  
  
She couldn't say how long it was until it stopped, it seemd like years. But it did stop eventually.  
  
Breathing in short sobbing gasps she tried to convince her cramped muscles to comply and lifted her face from the ground. As if pulled by invisible strings she got to her feet and stumbled through the opening that was now considerably larger. There was a long gash in the ground, ending about 20 meters away from her in a shallow crater, the dust settling slowly to reveal a metallic form, indented and deformed. She walked closer to it in a zombie-like state and stopped at the edge of the crater, eyes unblinking, her mind unable to comprehend what had happened just now. Detachedly she recognized the scrunched up metal thing for the ship she'd seen earlier plummeting to the ground. A sort of hatch opened slowly on the underside.  
  
Normally that scenario would have made her running for cover as fast as she could, or take any action that got her away. (If you can use the word 'normal' when it comes to a space ship crashing almost on top of you in a place you don't know and have no idea how you got there.) She was a person able to adapt quickly to sudden changes in her environment, but it never had been that drastic.  
  
Normally she would not stand there rooted to the spot watching stupidly as a kind of gangway was lowered to the ground. Her mind worked on autopilot right now, registering and filing information but not letting anything inside her, affecting her.  
  
A pair of legs appeared, and … a man clattered unstedily down the gangway to come to a stop a short distance away from it. She must have made a sound, because he turned his head sharply to look at her. Only to collapse on his knees and then falling heavily to the ground, laying unmoving.  
  
  
  
  
  
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Okay, that's it for now. Please leave a review or email me about it. Any comments, suggestions, criticism etc are very welcome. No flames please. 


	3. Awakenings

*blinks* I can't believe it's been two months since I updated, I'm really sorry *hangs her head in shame* 

But here it is, the next chapter, I hope you like it. Please tell me if you do and also if you don't. Comments, suggestions and constructive critiscism are always welcome and appreciated. :-)

Thanks to all who have reviewed, you really made me happy :-D

And a big thanks to Lady Hella for beta-ing most of the chapter and the support and encouragement!

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ. 

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Svenja sat against one of the walls watching into the distance, unseeing. Her legs folded were underneath her in a manner that promised nasty cramps later, but she neither cared nor recognized that at that moment. Too much had happened for her to bother about her feet falling asleep or some muscles aching later on. Strange how priorities can change so fast. Only half a week ago she would have grumbled about those physical annoyances, complaining about them. Now they were just an annoyance she noticed. She leaned her head back to rest against the wall and close her eyes briefly, only to snap them open again. She was dead tired, but too high-strung to get any rest except fitful five-minute dozes that left her even more tired and anxious than before. No use in that. It was better staying awake and conscious – or at least attempting to – and breaking down at some point falling in some hopefully deep and dreamless if exhausted sleep, than having those short moments of unconsciousness making her question her sanity every time she opened her eyes again. She swivelled her head to the side, looking at the person lying a short distance away. The one that had kept her sane all the time, even though it wasn't by conscious effort on his part.

It had been like this all her life. Whenever there had been a big crisis or something she didn't dare, want or could cope with, her mind unconsciously found something to concentrate on, something to immerse herself in completely, giving her the ability to shove away the painful issue, lock it deep within her mind to deal with sometime later on, when it didn't hurt that much anymore. It didn't matter what exactly she focussed on, it only had to be a diversion she could flee into. Svenja was well aware of this, and she knew it was cowardly in a way, but she couldn't stop it. Not that would make a conscious effort to stop it; if her subconscious wanted to protect her in that way – fine. And since in this place didn't have a large variety of diversions – except if you found rubble in various sizes exciting, which she didn't -  her inner focus had automatically turned to the only other living being in her vicinity. 

She had to admit concentrating on that strange guy had helped her a lot with coming to terms with her current situation. Svenja was a pragmatic person. Usually, if she got into a situation she didn't understand, she watched and learned until it made sense, and in the meanwhile accepted it as given. Though this particular situation was rather hard to accept, it wasn't everyday you got ripped out of your normal life and thrown into a strange place, not to mention almost getting killed by a spaceship... But she didn't have any other choice, she could hardly close her eyes against plain facts. Everything in her had rebelled at the thought of taking all this for real, but what else could she do? 

She had dismissed the thought of having a nightmare a while ago. It just felt too real, the aches in her body, the coldness of the wind blowing constantly, the oily wet rain, the dusty sand that seemed to be _everywhere_, the quietness… It was too quiet here. Like in a graveyard… 'Stop it!' she scolded herself. No need getting into hysterics, she had already been through that. Not that it had helped anyway, but at least it had yanked her out of her zombie-state.

So she had slowly come to accept her situation for the time being, however unwillingly. Watching and learning. And trying to find out why and how it happened, and how to reverse it. And everytime the logical part of her mind had started to scream about the sheer impossibility and improbability of the whole mess she found herself in, her thoughts had turned to the injured stranger, making him a fixed constant to focus on, like a rock she could cling to while the waves of panic slowly started to ebb, leaving her able to think clearly for a while and oddly calm. Well, as calm as the circumstances allowed.

She sighed and stood up slowly, wincing at the tingling sensation in her legs. 'Just perfect' she grumbled inwardly, 'breaking an ankle because my legs fell asleep would be _just_ the thing I need right now. Why didn't I stay over there in the first place? Whatever… ' Using the wall for support she walked over to her 'patient' to check on him. 

Kneeling down stiffly she laid her hand on the side of his neck to check his temperature, almost instantly retracting it. She didn't have much medical experience but she was fairly sure no one could be that hot and still alive. How high can a fever raise until you die? She shoved that thought away uneasily, she certainly did _not_ want to think about that. On the other hand, he had seemed a bit cooler than some hours ago when she had last checked, didn't he? She placed her hand on his neck again, this time leaving it there, closing her eyes to concentrate solely on touch. Yes, the temperature had gone down a bit, though it was still very high. 

She looked down at him in relief. He was still unconscious or sleeping, but he seemed to get better.

Maybe if he woke up next time she could get some answers. Or _anything_. She was starving for sounds other than wind and her own noises. The few times he'd been awake before had been short, and at those times she hadn't thought about making conversation. She sat down beside him, stretching her legs out and waited for him to come around. Her thoughts went back to the first time she had seen him.

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_She stood for what seemed an eternity for her frozen to her spot on top of the crater, poised to bolt any moment, until her legs started moving on their own accord and she stumbled down to the bottom where that strange man had collapsed. She sat down on her haunches, wrapped her arms around herself and just stared at the hunched form in front of her._

_Her mind was starting to struggle against the shock-like state Svenja was currently in, fighting its way up from where her self-defense mechanism had shoved it to act only as an observer, letting instincts take over. It was a natural kind of protection for times of highest stress, when survival was top priority and every conscious or logical thought would only endanger it. But it has its bad sides, for example when a panic breaks out and people get trampled or crushed by others who are currently in survival-mode. That scenario wasn't a likely one in Svenja's current situation since to her knowledge the only people nearby were herself and the guy that had almost killed her in the crash. But the ability to think any rational thought was disabled too, and that was something she had to avoid at all cost if possible. And since there wasn't any danger visible her mind, slowly but persistently, clawed its way into consciousness again as she looked at the hunched-over form._

_The man – at least she thought it was a man, since he looked humanoid, had the  features and figure of a man and from what she could see no female chest – was a real mess. Dark hair matted with blood but still sticking up in a weird angle from his head. His face was a mess of bruises and blood, his clothing torn and ripped. He had a very nasty gash on his back near the shoulder blade, and what she could see from his body where his clothes were torn was discolored in purple and black hues. And attached to his lower back, laying limp behind him on the dusty ground was something long and furry, blood oozing from it and coloring the sand under it to a dark red. It was twisted in an odd angle, it looked like a thick rope someone had put into a fridge and then made an effort to create some Modern Art. With a sledgehammer. _

_Svenja blinked slowly. That wasn't supposed to be there, right? But as she looked closer she saw it wasn't some debris from the crash. Debris usually doesn't bleed. And it was attached to the man, she saw as she looked closer. A good part of his shirt was gone, she could clearly see where that... thing grew out of his lower back._

_Slowly she extracted one arm from around herself, reached out with her hand hesitantly and poked the him in his upper arm. She actually touched something. She repeated the motion, the resistance of flesh her finger met convincing her it wasn't a hallucination. It was real._

_Svenja started to cry._

_She had no idea how long she sat there, tears flowing down her face. It was the first indication that what had happened was real, no nightmare and no hallucination. After a while it stopped, leaving only a feeling of numb emptiness and the beginning of deep despair. She didn't really notice it had begun to rain softly._

_That was when he began to stir, a groan escaping his mouth as his eyelids fluttered. He opened his eyes halfway, and after a moment they cleared, darting around until they focused on her. Svenja froze._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A sound ripped her from her thoughts. She swung her head around and saw him shift a bit, his eyelids were fluttering and he was mumbling softly.  Svenja scrambled to sit on her haunches and leaned over to reach out again to check his temperature. Was he waking up? Or did he only have a nightmare? She really hoped it was the former. Maybe she could finally get some answers, not to mention having some kind of communication.

When her hand was just a few inches away from his neck her wrist was suddenly caught in a firm grip, halting her movement instantly. Svenja let out a small shriek of surprise, her involuntary backward movement as she tried to jerk away stopped by the hand holding her wrist, causing her to lose her balance and dip forward. Unconsciously she reached out with her free hand to steady herself, her conscious mind too flooded with adrenaline to think about her actions. A suppressed wince of pain brought her back to reality . Her eyes widened and she jerked back her hand where it had lain on his injured shoulder for support, causing her to wobble a bit until she managed to twist her legs so she was kneeling. Her wrist still captured she leaned as far away as possible and starting tugging furiously, glaring angrily at the man rendering her arm useless by his grip. She was met by an equally furious stare, dark eyes boring into her. How could anyone have eyes that color? So dark, does he have any irises at all? She blinked and shook herself inwardly, that was not really the right moment to contemplate eye-related topics.

Collecting her last shreds of politeness she ground out, "Would you please let go of my wrist?" No answer, no visible reaction, only that stare. 

"Hey!" she said louder, pulling against the grip with all her strength. It felt as if her wrist was embedded into stone, and her fingers started to tingle due to lack of blood circulation. She was starting to get scared, and really angry. "Let go! And I mean as in RIGHT NOW!" she yelled angrily, and unwilling to wait and see if her request was heeded this time she reached out with her free hand and jabbed him into the side, hard. She must have hit the right spot, because her hand was free suddenly, causing her to fall on her butt, and the former captor of her wrist released a hiss of pain.

Svenja righted herself and sat on her haunches again, this time out of reach of her 'patient', meeting his enraged glare with one of her own. 

"What was that all about, huh? Are you out of your mind or something? Do you do any other things in your spare time than freaking people out?" she yelled angrily. What was this guys problem? Rendering her hand  and arm immobile like that… She shivered inwardly at the memory of feeling so… helpless when she had realized she couldn't get away, no matter how hard she pulled. For an instance all those horror stories had flashed through her mind about women getting beaten up or worse by assailants stronger than them. The fact that those situations were by no means comparable to the particular one she was didn't come to her mind at that moment. Seized by a sudden rush of anxiety that instantly increased to panic she had reverted to the only thing she had thought of at that moment. Hurting the one causing her to feel like that, this way enabling her to get free.

She realized it hadn't been one of her best moves to jab him like that, after all he was seriously injured. What if she had make matters only worse? What if she had accidentally pushed one of his probably broken ribs into his lungs? What if…

"What the hell did you want at my throat?" a hoarse voice growled, dissolving her train of thought. Svenja blinked. 

"Huh? Checking your temperature, looking if you're still having a fever! No need to look now, the way you're acting I'd vote for a clear yes! What else would I want to do? What did YOU think I was doing, huh?!" she fumed, calming a bit inwardly but needing to let off steam. He was still trying to drill a hole through her head with his glare, the hand formerly occupied with her wrist pressed to his side where she had stabbed him with her finger. She stared right back stubbornly, refusing to be intimidated. 

Zura was pissed. He had been clearly out of it, only gradually rising to consciousness when he felt a presence nearby that was unknown to him and getting closer, jolting him into awareness. Out of reflex he had grabbed whatever it was that had hovered so close to his throat, a life-long experience and a healthy paranoia screaming at him that strangers getting at his throat was never a good thing and could get him killed. He had opened his eyes to look at his would-be-killer, only to see the tired and dirt-streaked face of a woman with haunted blue eyes hovering over him, the expression contorting into one of startlement and shock at his grip. A high-pitched shriek had followed and the she had lost her balance, only regaining it after her free hand shot out to use his shoulder as support. Shit, that had _hurt_! And then his would-be-assailant had had the audacity to yell at him, demanding to be freed, and _then _she had rammed her finger into his side, sending a jolt of agony throughout his damaged ribcage, causing him to lose his grip. He had been aware he was in no condition to fight, even against someone with such laughable self-defense abilities, not without doing further damage to his already beaten up body. But fighting hadn't been on her mind apparently, she had seemed content to continue her yelling session, all the while meeting his warning glare with an indignant and furious one of her own. 

He broke his stare suddenly jerking his head around. The wind had changed direction and his nostrils were assaulted by a most delicious smell. He had smelled that before, right? He dimly remembered waking up before, his blurred vision providing him with an unfocused picture of someone staring at him, and then the sounds of rapidly retreating footsteps. And an odour his body recognized as nutritients; carbonhydrates, amino acids, and his mind labelled plainly 'food'. Food he needed, desperately. The next thing he knew he was stumbling, crawling into a partly destroyed building, clutching a wall in support, the smell promising help for healing beckoning him like a beacon. Then nothing. He must have collapsed again.

But now the mouth-watering smell was back. Where was… There! A short distance away was a heap of objects, partly surrounded by a brownish looking material. He tried to move but stopped almost instantly when his shifting put weight on his tail laying beside him, and a lance of pure agony shot through his spine. He fell back panting slightly, feeling a slight sheen of sweat forming on his skin.

The indignant look directed at him turned into one of uncertainty and slight concern as the woman shifted uncomfortably, clearly undecided whether to come within range or not. 

"What is it?" she asked in a lower volume than before, curiosity and mistrust in her voice.

Zura exhaled slowly, the pain in his lower back decreasing to a painfully but numb throbbing. He knew he could get the food himself after a short while, he only had to shift his weight to the other direction as to not put pressure on his tail again. But it couldn't hurt to try an easier way first.

"Food" he said, his voice coming out more like a plea than a request, much to his chagrin. She blinked. "What?" Gods, of all people in the universe did he have to be in the same room – or what was left of it – with someone having a slow understanding? Not to mention lacking common sense like not coming into near range within vital aeras of a fighter's body?

"There's food nearby. I can smell it. Over there." he said slowly and clearly, nodding his head in the direction.

"I understood you the first time, mister, there's no need for that!" she snapped back, but nevertheless moving to drag the contents of the ripped brown material over. His eyes were focused on the heap of objects in front of her, but he could feel her looking at him. She pulled the lid off one of the small containers. "Okay, I'll give you something, you must be pretty hungry and…" she trailed off after the container was ripped out of her hand and soon as he could reach it. He shovelled the strangely-shaped pieced in his mouth, his taste buds almost exploding in bliss at the foreign but nevertheless delicious taste. "Hey!" she yelled angrily, "those were my favorite! You ate them _all_?" She eyed him darky, muttering something about cheese pastries. "Okay, I know you're hungry, and I have no problem sharing my food. But the imperative word here is _sharing_. As in I want my half, too. Not as in you wolfing down everything, got that? And…"

"Yes. Thank you. Sorry. More!" he interrupted her, eyeing the rest of the food wrapped in foil or hidden in other containers hungrily, knowing that their contents would help further his healing process. She stared at him for a moment in indignant disbelief. "Whatever. Not that it really matters right now anyway…" she muttered , handing him several objects wrapped in foil and ripped open one to munch on its contents herself.

Zura slowed down only after the emptiness in his stomach was filled. He looked up, only to find himself subjected to a thoughtful and slightly desolate stare of his food-provider.

"That started bad." she said suddenly, "I'm Svenja."

Zura blinked. What the hell had just happened? First she had tried to attack him, claiming to only wanting to check his temperature, then she had screeched at him, after that she had given him food, and now she offered something akin to a truce? That didn't make any sense.

"What do you want?" he asked half confused and half curious. Her actions weren't fitting into any pattern he had encountered before.

Her gaze cleared, the desolation vanishing to be replaced by something hard, tinged with hopefulness.

"Answers." she said.


	4. Questions and Answers

Well, hello again :-)

Did someone of you go to the Animagic convention last weekend in Koblenz, Germany?

A little advice for everyone who want to visit a convention mainly for merchandise: make sure you get your tickets early. I only got one for the last day, and all the things I wanted to get were sold out. Since then I'm a bit allergic to the sentence "Oh, if you had been here on Friday… we had TONS of that then."…. *growls*

A big thanks goes to Lady Hella for beta-ing the chapter, and for her support :-))

Okay,on with the story.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Answers." she said, her voice demanding.

Zura blinked. She wanted answers? Hell, _she_ should be the one answering _his_ questions. After all, as far as he could sense, she was the only living being on this planet, besides himself. Hell, his ship had crashed here, completely unresponsive to his commands, and in the exact place she had been. Coincidence? Hardly. 

So she had something to do with it, there was no other explanation. Or at least she had to know something, even though she didn't give that impression right now. 

Zura gave her a quick once-over, taking in her bedraggled appearance. Black shoulder-length hair, hanging limply in matted strands, a tired dirt-streaked face, irregular smears on the cheeks where she had wiped them, giving her a weird camouflage effect. Torn and ripped dark clothes, one especially big tear in a shirt sleeve showing dried blood on the exposed skin. Her whole posture was tense, appearing ready to bolt any moment. 

Zura shifted his weight a little to the side opposite of his damaged tail, trying to find a position that put as little pressure as possible on it. Svenja involuntarily twitched, an instinctive movement to flee. 

"Well", she snapped, angry at herself for showing obvious panic in front of someone who clearly wasn't able to stand up without help, the feeling being only enhanced by the slightly amused flash in the man's eyes at her movement. "Start talking!" She glared at him for a moment until she realized she hadn't actually asked anything, but caught herself quickly. "Who are you? Why are you here? Where is _here_ anyway? And why did you try to kill me with your… spaceship-thing? And…"

"Stop it!" Zura interrupted her harshly, getting angry himself. "Trying to kill you? I was crashing here, if you didn't notice. That's crashing, as in not voluntarily landing somewhere, usually resulting in…"

"I know what crashing is!" Svenja yelled, getting to the end of her proverbial rope. "Just answer my questions, goddammit!"

Zura stared at the enraged female kneeling on the ground, her arms supporting her upper body that was leaning forward in his direction in an aggressive manner. "Alright." he said calmly, too calmly. He was furious. Whatever questions he had expected, those stupid ones certainly weren't it. Was that a kind of trick, to get him talking? He decided to answer her for the moment. It wasn't as if he gave away any information that wasn't obvious. "I crashed here. Without wanting to, obviously. This is Lokran."

Annoyance and confusion were showing on her face. "What?! What is Lokran? And why did you crash here? You almost crushed me with your spaceship or whatever it is, you know? Who are you, dammit?! And…  How….?" Thousands of questions were now whirling around in her head at the same time, preventing her from formulating one without others popping up at once. 

She was met with a disbelieving and suspicious look. "Are you bullshitting me?? We're in an uninhabited part of space, everybody hiding out here know where here is. So stop giving me that shit about not knowing the name of this planet. Quit your stupid game! I crashed here against my will, and I'll leave as soon as possible. Satisfied?" Honestly, how stupid did she think he was? Zura growled inwardly.

Svenja squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. "Planet…" she murmured faintly, "This is so insane." Snapping her eyes open she looked at the clearly pissed off man squarely. "No, I'm not satisfied. I need _answers_. _Real _answers." She took a deep breath, struggling to stay calm but failing miserably. "For example I want to know who I'm talking to. What's with the name anyway? This isn't Elfquest, you know?! You lack the pointy ears!" she exploded, ignoring the blank look she received at that statement. "You drop out of the sky, almost on top of me, I was nearly killed, got bombarded by debris, I'm in some weird place I don't know and have no idea how I came here, and you tell me I'm playing games?" By now she was panting, the last shreds of her composure gone.

Zura blinked. Either she was a very good actor of she was telling the truth. Either way, she looked as if she'd lose it any moment, and he couldn't have that. After all he needed answers himself. "Zura," he said. 

That got her attention, as he had intended. Her breathing slowed a little, and at her questioning look he added, "my name. Zura." 

"Zura" she repeated, trying the unknown name. "Okay, Zura. How…" she started, trying to find a beginning that would provide her with answers without confusing her even more. Her eyes darted around and came to a stop when they met the twisted and furry… thing growing out of his back.  "What _is_ that?" she asked, pointing at it. Zura looked around puzzled, for a moment not knowing what she meant. "What, this? My tail, of course." he said incredulously,  touching it gingerly. Okay, tails weren't that common in the known universe. But on the other hand, so weren't horns. Or tentacles. Or multiple noses. Uncommon, but nothing special. Even if she hadn't seen a tail before, it was glaringly obvious. 

 "Tail…right." she muttered faintly. "Serves me right, stupid question." 

"Exactly." he answered, suppressing a snicker at the angry glare her shot him, getting serious again. "Now it's my turn. No, no more questions right now, I need something." He cut off whatever she had wanted to say. "First of all, where is my stuff? I know I had it with me when I came out of the ship." 

Svenja looked puzzled for a moment until she caught up with what he meant. "Oh, right. You also had it when you came stumbling in here like a zombie. Here." she reached behind her back and pulled his pack around, shoving it in his direction.

Zura grabbed it, opened it and started to rummage around. "You know", he said casually, "whoever you are and whatever your intentions are, that was a bit stupid. After all, I could have a weapon in there. And you won't get it back from me now." 

"Nope, no weapons." 

He raised his eyes angrily. "You looked through my things?"

"Yes, I looked at your stuff. After I pried it from your fingers, that is. And there wasn't any weapon. You mean I'd give it to you then, huh? I'm not stupid."

He chuckled inwardly. She had no idea what pain he could inflict with some of the things she obviously had deemed harmless. He smirked at her and pulled out a small syringe containing a colourless liquid. 

He had a much more advanced medical device in his pack, something that would trigger and enhance his healing abilities. Unfortunately that procedure would take some time, and he needed some mobility right now. So he fell back to a more basic treatment, crude but effective. The medication was injected directly into the bloodstream providing him with the ability to move around for a short span of time and at the same time muting the neural activities, numbing his pain to a bearable extent. The downside of it was that after it wore off he'd have to sleep a little and would be dazed for some hours and slow in his reactions. That's why it was used so seldom, only in real emergencies. Possible enemies could take advantage of his state, and he had only used it once and had survived only by luck. Though this time, the possible danger seemed to be minimal. That Svenja didn't have any considerable power level and seemed to be no threat he couldn't deal with if it came to that. He'd still be faster than her if she tried anything.

His hand holding the syringe stopped inches before his arm that he had flexed to get easier access to the vein when she asked a small voice: "What are you doing?" He looked up and saw her wearing a slightly panicked look, her complexion a little paler than before, though it wasn't clearly discernable through the layers of dirt covering her face. Her eyes were fixed on the needle poised above his flesh. 

Zura didn't answer, directing his eyes again on the protruding vein in his arm, jabbing the needle into it and injecting the contents of the syringe. He pulled the needle out and took some deep breaths, waiting for the medication to work. He didn't have to wait long, the effects kicked in almost immediately. The decreasing throbbing in his lower spine and appendage seemed like a blessing, and he cautiously proceeded to stand upright, testing his muscles. It still hurt but he could live with it right now.

He carefully took his tail into his hand and looked at the woman that at his movements had scrambled back and now stood some meters away from, regarding him warily.

"I'll be back shortly." Zura said, grabbed his pack, slung it over his shoulder and walked cautiously to the opening in the wall. Taking measured steps as he didn't really trust his balance, he proceeded in the direction of his broken spaceship. He didn't have as much time as he wanted, he itched to find the status of his ship, what parts were repairable and what had to be replaced. It was an unconscious process he had adapted over the time. If your means of transport wasn't in good shape you usually ended up in deep shit. But what if the damage it had taken was so severe he couldn't get off this planet? He firmly shoved the thought away; he had other priorities right now. He staggered unsteadily up the ramp to be met with darkness and cradled his tail with one arm. Feeling his way blindly through the familiar surroundings he fumbled along the walls with his free hand, occasionally bumping with his feet against something lying on the floor. He let out a triumphant sound when he found the first compartment of the ones containing provisions accessible and grabbed the bags inside. Stepping out again into the diffuse light he sighed with relief and slowly walked back to the ruined building. A Saiyans metabolism depended heavily on food to heal. Now that he had retrieved some bags of the provisions high in nutrients that he usually took with him on a flight, and in addition to the Healing Enhancer in his pack he had everything he could work with under the given circumstances to improve his situation. It wasn't much. But it was a beginning.

Svenja blinked and watched the dark haired man shuffling back from the ship. His last words, had they been a kind of warning? Or reassurance? Nah. It had probably been only a statement. She discarded the thought about his possible reasons, it was enough he'd come back so she could question him a bit more. He certainly hadn't helped clear thing up. Or maybe she just hadn't asked the right questions. Gods, her head hurt.

She backed away from the opening when he came near and watched him silently as he made his way to the remaining intact corner of the ruin and sat down slowly, laying his appendage carefully next to him. He placed the bags he had retrieved from the ship on his other side, slid his pack from his shoulder and rummaged around in it.

For a second Svenja felt a smile tugging at her mouth at his choice of a seat. It reminded her a bit of a friend, a rather paranoid one, who unconsciously always chose the most defendable position wherever she was. She became serious again and walked over to sit a short distance away. She watched him taking out a strange-looking device, looking a little like a broad wristband with some buttons and a small rectangular flat surface. She had already seen it when she had searched his pack but had been clueless to what its purpose was, though it hadn't looked dangerous to her. After he pressed some buttons the device came to life, small coloured lights and strange symbols blinking on the flat surface she now realized was a kind of display. He pressed some more buttons and watched satisfied as the flashing lights changed their pattern. 

Zura lifted one arm and shoved back the remains of the sleeve with his free hand. After he placed the device on his underarm he adjusted it until the integrated pads were pressed against his skin where they were supposed to go. He snapped the small metallic buckles shut and exhaled slowly, sinking further back into the corner and giving the woman looking at him with badly concealed curiosity a measuring look.

"What?" he asked, already feeling the side effects of the medication kicking in.

"What did you do out there?" she asked. "What's in those bags? What kind of device is that? What does it do?"

"I brought food, yours is gone.  And that's a Healing Enhancer. You have three guesses what it's supposed to do." Zura smirked slightly at her irritated look, blinking slowly when his eyes unfocussed a bit. "I'm going to rest now. Don't do something stupid, you wouldn't be successful anyway, so don't bother trying anything. Any more questions right now?" She stared mutely at him with an unreadable expression, emotions flashing across her eyes he couldn't decipher and didn't care about right now. He felt his eyelids closing and was on the brink of drifting away when her voice brought him back. 

"Yes." She said in a strange voice. "Why am _I_ here?" Zura's half-lidded eyes widened. What? She wore a strained expression, her eyes pleading for an answer. An answer he couldn't give her. 

"I don't know," he murmured, fighting the urge to close his eyes. He couldn't find signs of deceptions in her look. Could it really be? Was it possible that she told the truth? He started to become intrigued. 

When she visibly slumped at his answer he found himself saying, "wait a while. We'll talk later."

"How long?" she asked, her eyes troubled. "A few hours, probably," he answered and prepared himself to be taken over by sleep. A small part of him would still be alert on a level in case something unusual happened. It was a mechanism he had developed over the time, and it didn't take much energy. In fact it was only the detection of a change in the energy surrounding him. It only failed him when he was completely knocked out, as he had been before… Never mind. He'd think about it later.

Svenja watched Zura's eyelids flutter shut, and after a few moments his breaths deepened and steadied.

What a strange guy… Her face twisted into an angry grimace. She still didn't have answers. Not really, anyway. She got the sinking feeling that whatever she asked she wouldn't get them. And not necessarily because the one providing answers was unwilling. All efforts to think things through logically were doomed to failure, because what had happened wasn't logical.

"Adapt", she whispered to herself, "just adapt. There's nothing else left."

Speaking it aloud helped a lot. She had noticed throughout her life that if she actually pronounced things that troubled her or wrote them down, it helped a lot to make them more definite, giving them a shape. They were no longer unformed and vague ideas or fears, they were defined, and thus giving her the leverage to deal with them.

She sighed and forced her legs to stretch, shoving herself back until she was leaning against the wall. Now she could only wait.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

So what do you think? Comments, suggestions, anything?

Um… I wonder, did anyone understand what I meant with Elfquest? I'm not sure if it's still widely known.


	5. Overload

This chapter is dedicated to both Hella and Biggi, two people I appreciate a lot and consider as close friends, and I want to see them happy. :-)

Disclaimer: Don't own DBZ. 

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Svenja stared numbly into the distance, unmoving. Her whirling thoughts had finally slowed down after a while, them running in circles didn't help at all. Now she was only tired, in mind and in body. She had been sitting and staring, waiting for the last couple of hours since Zura had fallen asleep.  
She turned her head slightly and looked at the weird guy lying slumped in the corner. That position didn't look very comfortable, he'd be in a lot of pain when he woke up.  
She snorted. 'Yeah, right. As if some stiff muscles are his main problems.'  
Who, or rather _what was that guy anyway? Okay, he had answered her when she had asked. But it didn't make much sense, only adding to her confusion. "Don't!" she hissed fiercely at herself, firmly stopping the train of thoughts she had been over and over again without getting any closer to a solution. She didn't want to go there again, it felt like a downward spiral with the same ever-repeating patterns, getting tighter and tighter and tighter…  
"Stop it!" she said aloud and cast a guilty glance at the injured man in the corner. No change.  
She stood up slowly, rubbing her tired legs. She had the urge to move, walk around a bit. Not only because her stiff muscles demanded it but also because it eased the tension that had been building up inside her. Gods, how she hated waiting, she always had. And this was much worse than simply waiting for a bus or for some exam results.   
'Curious how perception changes depending on situations,' she thought wryly and started pacing, walking out of the ruin and circling it a few times, stomping and waving her arms to get her circulation running again.  
 After a few minutes she stepped into the former building again and looked around, looking for something, anything to do. She'd give a lot for a Rubix Cube right now. Given her lack of tactics she'd be occupied with that thing for the next few days. If she didn't smash it to pieces a lot sooner. Her wandering eyes stopped at the device fastened around Zura's arm and she stepped closer, her curiosity being piqued. She hunched down close enough to see the device clearly, but not so close that he'd perceive it as a threat as he had before, not an easy feat considering where Zura was lying._

Not that she was afraid of him, after all he was injured and unable to move much. But still, there was no reason to piss him off more than necessary. After all, she needed him to explain things. She thought about how he had looked when she had asked him the last question. He had seemed genuinely surprised and confused, and even though his answer had disappointed her deeply his offer to talk about it later had kept a tiny bit of hope alive.

She eyed the device curiously. What did he call it? A Healing Enhancer? His sarcasm at the explanation came back to her and she growled silently. What a smart-ass….  
The Healing Enhancer didn't make much more sense to her than it had before. Symbols in a strange language she didn't know and rhythmically blinking lights. She frowned. Did the lights blink in rhythm with a person's pulse? Or was the device the dominating factor in the healing process, did it slow down or speed up a person's pulse to match the rhythm? And what meant Healing Enhancer exactly? What exactly did it enhance?

Svenja smiled slightly, that was what she had needed. Something to occupy her mind, something to puzzle out. Even if she wouldn't get answers to all of her questions, she was sure _this_ was something Zura could answer.  
In a way it was a kind of substitute. A poor one, admittedly, since it didn't solve her main problems, but still a substitute. And maybe the fact that she'd found something she could get clear and definite answers from would help her find a way to deal with her main questions.  
And she had always been interested in stuff like that anyway, medical things especially, and her deep uneasiness when it came to needles only enhancing that interest. She shuddered at the memory of Zura jamming the needle into his arm, feeling slightly sick. How had he been able to do that? 

She stared a bit longer at the device, its rhythmically blinking lights making her sleepy. Shuffling back a bit to provide herself with some space for her legs she sat down a short distance away from Zura, her eyes never leaving the strangely calming and hypnotizing blinking lights.

When the pattern of the lights changed, increasing slightly in speed, she couldn't say how much time had passed.

**

Zura dreamed. He was once again eight years old, roaming the halls and corridors of Slianka Station with the other kids, getting  in trouble. He knew it was a dream, reliving the events and at the same time experiencing them as a detached observer.  
He saw his younger version getting dragged to the house where he lived by one of the station's security people and shoved firmly into the building when the door was opened. "Really, Frasid," the security guy said exasperatedly, "that's the third time in this cycle, and this time we found them near the launching area. I know it's not your fault, but we have other things to do than getting the young ones out of security areas.  No," he held a hand up and shook his head when Frasid opened his mouth, "I _know_. Kazac was there too. Those two are always getting into trouble. I know very well we can't keep them grounded forever. Hadn't worked with us either, remember?" he grinned, but became serious again. "All I'm asking is that you speak with him. Try to talk some sense into him. As will I with my son."   
He turned around to go after sharing a rueful grin with his childhood friend, stopping only shortly when the young boy's voice rang out. "Yeah, say hi to Kaz from me, okay?" 

"Right," he snorted and walked home to have a serious talk with his offspring, knowing very well it wouldn't have any effect.

Frasid closed the door and sighed. The wild-haired boy grinned up at his foster father cheekily, knowing exactly what would come now. But it never did. "Come on," the pale-skinned man said and sat down on the couch in the living area, suppressing a grin at the boy's unsure and defiantly curious expression. "You know," Frasid said after letting the boy squirm for a few moments, "I thought about it. You don't use your own name anymore, and that's okay, so don't give me that look. But we need to call you something. And I think I have the perfect name for you." He grinned, showing his elongated sharp teeth. "How about.… Itazura?"

**

The dream blurred and vanished gradually, and Zura slowly rose to consciousness again, for a short moment disoriented before he remembered what had happened.

He groggily opened his eyes and out of habit checked his surroundings. The girl was now sitting propped up against the wall nearby, eyeing him warily with tired eyes.  
Had she been awake the whole time? It didn't matter, he had more important things to do. 

He turned his focus inwardly, testing his muscles, slowly flexing arms and legs, trying to assess the healing progress enhanced by the H.E.  
Better. Much better. He was still sore as hell, and he didn't even want to think about the numerous bruises but he was convinced he could move for a longer period of time on his own if he didn't have to run or get into a hand-to-hand fight.

Lifting a hand he felt his ribcage and along his upper body, and was satisfied when he found the bones had already started to mend.

That Healing Enhancer had definitely been worth the small fortune he'd had to pay for it, without its help he would have had to wait a couple of days until reaching this condition.  The device was more than handy when it came to initialising and firing up a person's own healing abilities. It couldn't work miracles, it only helped already existing abilities to unfold to their maximum. And Zura, belonging to a species known for their highly advanced and adaptive immune system, had plenty of them.  
But it only did what the name implied, enhancing the healing. Any body part beyond repair couldn't get fixed, no matter how long or extensively the H.E was used.

'Enough stalling' Zura growled inwardly and turned toward the issue he had avoided until now. His tail.  
Taking a deep breath he picked his appendage up carefully, running his fingers down its length, trying to put only enough pressure into his touch as was needed to feel the bone structure, dreading what he would find.  
He almost collapsed with relief when he found the vertebrae still intact and not completely shattered into tiny fragments as he had feared. It wouldn't be completely healed for a substantial time and was way more damaged than his ribs, but it _would_ heal.  
He didn't know what he would have done if things had turned out otherwise. Sure, he'd still be who he was even without his tail  - he shuddered at the thought – but something would be missing, and not only in a physical sense. His tail wasn't only another limb used for balance and picking things up, or the source of his ability to transform. It was also something making him to the person he was, a part of his identity. It was a reminder of where he came from, a symbol of his heritage.   
A surge of happiness rushed through him, and he found himself staring at the confused face of Svenja, grinning widely and unable to contain his relief.

Svenja was confused. Meaning she was in the familiar state of mind that had accompanied her since she had vanished from the rainy street of her hometown.  
She had almost been lulled to sleep by the hypnotizing lightshow of that device when its pattern had changed, and shortly afterward Zura had opened his eyes, moving his limbs a little, muscles twitching slightly. He had lifted his tail from where it had been laying on the ground, almost caressing its length, and then his face had lit up and he started grinning happily, the simple change in facial expression making him appear as a completely different person. She could only stare when he turned his head and beamed at her, a smile so infectious she felt the corner of her mouth automatically lifting in response. 

"Er…" Svenja cleared her throat after a few moments, feeling a bit awkward. That had been weird… "Um… what's the good news?" she asked curiously. Zura slowly stood up in a careful and controlled motion with his tail still secure in his grip, causing Svenja to scramble to her feet as well. He looked at her, more sober than before but with an undeniable happiness underlying his features. 

"My tail. It will heal," he answered smugly. 

"Oh… well congratulations, I guess." she said dubiously, eyeing the furry appendage in his hand. It didn't seem any different than it had some hours ago, still looking mangled, dried blood matting the greater part of the dark fur. But it didn't seem to pain him as much as before. Come to think of it…

"How can you stand?" she blurted out, "You were barely able to move unaided some hours ago!"  Either her memory of his health status prior to his nap was completely  wrong and twisted or he had undergone a really amazing recovery in a very short time.

Zura removed the device one-handedly from his underarm and held it up. "Thanks to this little thing."

"What _is_ it?" she asked in wonder. If what he said about that device being the reason for his recovery was true… she couldn't even start to imagine what the results would be if something like that was available at her home.

 "I told you. It's a Healing Enhancer." he grinned smirked in satisfaction at the device. 

Oh. Back to _that_ again. Svenja sighed exasperatedly. "Yes. You told me what it's called. But what does it do? No, wait." She shook her head, forcing her tired mind to focus. As piqued as her curiosity was, other things took priority right now. 

"Okay," she said after taking a deep breath. "You said we'd talk, right?"

He regarded her for a moment, his gaze unreadable. Svenja swallowed, getting a sinking feeling in her stomach. 

Now that she had willingly forced herself to focus, her questions and fears she had successfully managed to shove away for a while came back with a vengeance. What if he just said no? What if, now that he could move again, he just went away? What…

"All right." his voice ripped her out of her rising panic and into the present. "Walk with me."

"Huh?" Svenja blinked and stared at his back as he steadily walked towards the hole in the wall. "Walk with you? Where to? There's nothing out there! Hey, wait!" she yelled angrily and stomped towards the 'exit' he had vanished through just seconds ago, and almost ran him over where he had indeed waited. 

"Whoops", she muttered and took two steps back, meeting his irritated glare with one of her own.

"Watch it!" they hissed simultaneously, then stared at each other in surprise and annoyance.

Zura blinked and turned his head. "Moving the injured body parts is important to make sure they don't stiffen up.  I want to keep my flexibility." He explained, as much to her benefit as to his own. Happy as he was to have his mobility back, moving still hurt like blazes.

"Oh," Svenja muttered. "Okay, and where should we go? Did you have any particular piece of rubble in mind?" she asked sarcastically, apprehensive about the upcoming conversation, glad she would maybe finally get answers and at the same time scared like hell of them. 

Getting answers meant she couldn't pretend anymore, couldn't flee into her own little delusion that everything would turn out to be a really big misunderstanding. Of course she knew that was a lie, and she didn't for one minute believe it. But it was a kind of sanctuary, one of the little things she subconsciously relied on to keep her sanity. 

Zura snorted in answer, flinching slightly as the sudden muscle contraction caused numerous nerve endings to scream their protest at his brain. "I don't care," he muttered distractedly, looking towards his broken ship. How the hell was he going to repair that?

Svenja tilted her head, taking in the bleak look he gave the spaceship that had almost flattened her. "Come on", she said, and started walking towards the ship, "we might as well go there. It's only a short distance, but it beats walking in circles."

They walked slowly, Zura still becoming accustomed to his current state of  mobility, and Svenja trying to find out how to start. When they reached the edge of the crater Zura stopped suddenly, causing Svenja to turn around. "What?" she asked. Zura only shook his head and sat down carefully. 

"Let's stay here," he said, uncomfortably aware that he actively avoided going any closer right now, dreading the extent of the damage his ship had taken.

"Okay," Svenja muttered, sitting down next to him, her caution of being within grabbing distance momentarily forgotten as she struggled for words. She frowned and picked up a jagged piece of stone, playing with it. Who knew what it originally had belonged to?  Maybe a part of a wall, lending stability and structure to a building, or maybe it belonged to something like a stone bench or well … Or maybe it had always been a piece of rubble. 'I'm like that stone,' she thought distantly before shaking her head wildly, irritated at the downslide her thoughts had taken. There were moments when introspective thoughts just weren't needed, or wanted.

Turning her head she froze when she saw Zura looking at her quizzically. She had always been one unable to hide her feelings, her facial expressions betraying her every time. "Um…" she muttered uneasily, moving her arm to throw the stone away but finding herself unable to do so.

"Frankly, I don't know where to start." she began, giving up her effort to find a good starting point. "I asked you before, why am I here?" 

Zura watched her a moment. "I still don't know."

"Thought so…" she muttered looking down, "neither do I." A short rush of helpless rage coursed through her and she threw the piece of stone angrily away, jerking and casting Zura a guilty glance when it rebounded with a metallic 'clang' off the spaceship's hull. "Sorry," she mumbled.

They sat in silence for some moments, the only sound surrounding them the never-ceasing wind flowing through the ruins.

"What happened?" Zura asked calmly. He didn't understand what was going on, but the first suspicions he had had seemed to be wrong.  He had seen a lot of convincing actors in his life, but that girl wasn't one. Actors could simulate emotions, but he had never encountered one with the ability to feign their own smell. And Svenja was clearly desperate, her scent consisting of negative feelings; hopelessness, fear, anxiety – a mixture carnivores on every planet would recognize at once as the smell of prey. There was no way one could fake that, he was sure of it.

He watched her swallowing, fighting for control over her emotions. Slowly, quietly, she started to talk, telling him what had happened. Once or twice she veered away from her story, throwing in things that came to her mind related to what she had just told. Zura didn't think she really noticed, it rather seemed her way of collecting herself for the next part, for she always soon turned back and continued where she had left off. He didn't interrupt her, letting her tell her tale in her own speed, and it provided him with a broader picture of her thoughts and ideas. He stored the information away for later, concentrating on the events that had led her to this place.

"… and then you woke up and… well, you know the rest…" she trailed off. 

Zura frowned. "So… just before you came to Lokran, you didn't notice anything unusual? You just walked down a street and suddenly got dizzy and were here suddenly?" 

Svenja's head shot up and she glared at him angrily. "Yes! I know it's stupid and hard to believe, but that's just what happened. I'm sorry I can't give you some glowing magical archway, or anything else that's even slightly out of ordinary. Do you honestly believe I didn't try to remember something unusual? It was just that goddamn street, nothing else! Nothing!" she yelled. She was tired, exhausted, dirty and emotionally drained. This had been the last straw.

"I only asked," Zura said mildly and raised an eyebrow.  

"Yes! And I answered," she snapped back before raking her hands through her tangled hair. "But I can't tell you anything else, really I can't. That's just what happened," she said tiredly and closed her eyes briefly. She gave a short bitter laugh "You know what? I had hoped when I told you, you'd somehow know what happened and how I can get back. Isn't that stupid? You have no idea, am I right?"

Zura was silent for a minute, looking down thoughtfully. He turned his head to meet her exhausted look with a resolute one. "You're right. I still have no idea. No, wait." he said firmly when she exhaled sharply at his words, hands balling into fists and her face transforming into a grimace of helpless rage. 

"Let me finish. Afterwards you can rant all you like, but this is important. Okay?" She glared at him but  mumbled an affirmation.  

"Good, I'm trying to make it short. We both came here against our will, within a rather short span of time, to almost the same location. I'm sure you agree with me that this can't possibly be a coincidence." 

She nodded slowly and he continued. "And that means that there has to be some external source being the cause of it, but frankly, I don't know what it could be. I had hoped you could give me some clues, but unfortunately what you told me didn't help." 

He looked over to his ship, massaging his leg absent-mindedly. "What happened to you and what happened to me were completely different things in different circumstances, but still having the same result at the same time. I just don't get it! I can't think of anything that would cause that." 

He sighed and looked at her. "I know this is not what you wanted to hear, but I can't offer you anything else. I can't give you the answers you want. I wish I could, because they'd be the answers to _my _questions too. I know this is far from satisfying, but it's all I know or believe to know right now."

He fell silent, not knowing what else to say. Damn, that had been crappy. He'd never been a good talker, and that last monologue had proven it again. 

Svenja stared at the man beside her, not even noticing his bedraggled appearance, torn clothes and frustrated expression. She felt strangely empty, and lost. She hadn't believed he'd just snap his fingers and things would be perfect again, no. But she'd had a tiny hope that he'd be able to help her, somehow. And now that this little spark had vanished into thin air, the only thing she had clung to, that prevented her from crumbling into pieces, she just let go. There was a limit the human mind could bear and handle, and she had just been catapulted way beyond it.

Taking a shuddering breath she started to cry, silently at first but increasing in force until heavy sobs wracked her body as she let out all her bottled-up emotions, all the strain and fear, her despair and aimless anger.

She had completely forgotten where she was and that there was someone next to her, until she felt the hesitant pressure of a hand on her shoulder. Releasing a hiccupping sob she turned around, accepting the offer of comfort and collapsed against Zura, gripping him like a lifeline. She buried her face on his shoulder, muffling her wails and soaking the fabric of his torn shirt, barely registering his arm squeezing her soothingly. 

Svenja didn't know how long she stayed like that, but after some time her weeping receded to silent sobs. When it stopped completely she was already fast asleep in a warm and comforting half-embrace, exhaustion and the emotional stress of the last days taking finally their toll.

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So… what do you think? Comments, suggestions etc. are very welcome :-)


	6. Interlude aka The chapter that refused t...

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ.

A/N: Another chapter, yay! Sorry it came out so late, and it probably sucks, but I had some serious problems with it. Anyway, enjoy :-)

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"Oh great. And now what?" Zura muttered as he looked down at the mop of tangled dark hair. Svenja's breathing had deepened into the steady rhythm of sleep, the violent sobs from before gone. 

He didn't know whether he wanted her to wake so that he could ease the cramp he was getting in his leg, or to wish for her to stay asleep so he could delay the awkwardness, the headache-enforced grouchiness and the snapping that he knew always came after heavy crying. Though he wasn't sure whether that would apply here too.

He had never seen someone breaking down so utterly and completely as Svenja had, and it had made him feel somehow uneasy, as if he had seen something personal he'd had no right to witness. But there had been no denying the grief and desperation emanating from her in ever-increasing waves he had thought he could almost see. He had surely sensed them, the high level of empathy being a legacy of his race he'd gladly give away if possible. He had felt an irrational rush of guilt for being the one having caused her breakdown, something all bearers of bad news experience, no matter how irrational that sentiment was. In the end he had done the only thing he could think of, offering something substantial and real, the literal shoulder to cry on, and it had been accepted.

Cursing under his breath at the flashes of pain his movement induced he shifted until he supported her shoulders with only his arm, and eased her back to the ground. He tilted his head and looked down at Svenja's still and sleep-relaxed face, and as an afterthought he took off what was left of his jacket and put it carefully under her head. 

He stood up slowly and rolled his shoulders, glancing down at his ship at the bottom of the slope. It didn't seem as if he'd be able to get away from here anytime soon, so he'd better go and salvage whatever he could. And he'd get the physical exercise he needed, too. Zura walked down the slope and got to work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Svenja woke disoriented, with a pounding headache and the feeling she had been run over by something heavy. With spikes. She opened her eyes only to squeeze them shut again when the daylight seemed to burn through her retina right into her brain, giving the throbbing pain in her head an additional boost. Groaning she lifted her hands to her head, the cool palms pressing on her face feeling like balm. What the hell had happened?

An instant later the memory rushed back and her arms fell nervelessy to her sides. 

Stranded on a weird planet. Almost squashed by a spaceship. The strange guy who had stranded here too had no idea how to get out. And then she had completely lost it. 

"Fuck!" The heartfelt exclamation came out as a croak but summed it all up pretty well.

"You're awake. About time," a voice floated to her from somewhere to the left. She turned her head and saw Zura sitting a few meters away and rummaging in a large bag next to him. 

She grunted and rubbed a hand over her face. "Gods, I feel like shit," she muttered, disgusted at the bitter taste in her mouth. 

"Fitting. You look like shit," came the prompt and rather cheery response. Svenja hissed in annoyance but had to admit he probably had a point. If she looked even half as awful as she felt… But still.

"Asshole." She growled and suppressed the urge to jump up and strangle him on the spot when he snorted in amusement.

"What are you…" She started to ask, getting up in a sitting position, when her hand touched something smooth that was definitely not rubble. She picked it up, a torn and ripped piece of cloth, sticky in places and with some strange drawing that could be writing of some kind or simple decoration on a sleeve. It was still warm where her head had lain on it. 

Her eyes turned to Zura who hadn't stopped his rummaging except for a quick glance in her direction when she hadn't finished her question. "Thanks," she said.

He halted his search and blinked perplexedly . "Oh. Never mind," he said when he realized what she meant and continued his exploration into the depth of the bag with renewed vigour. "I could move more freely without it anyway." He muttered almost defensively, as an afterthought. 

"Still, thank you." She repeated and had to grin at the uncomfortable and irritated expression he wore. 

"What's so funny?" He asked suspiciously before she could say anything further, then, "here, catch!"   
Something solid smacked hard at the arm Svenja had raised reflexively in defence. "Hey!" She yelled and rubbed her arm, shooting him an angry glare. She picked up the projectile and frowned quizzically at the cylindrical-shaped form. "What's that?" 

"Water. You have to open it here." he demonstrated with another one.

'Water!' The mere mention of it  made her realize how thirsty she was. Mimicking his movements she managed to open the can-shaped thing and drank in hurried gulps, relishing in the soothing sensation of the liquid running down her parched throat. "Thanks, I really needed that!" She sighed happily when she was finished.

Zura put his own drink down and looked at her with a serious expression.

"How do you feel?" He asked, and Svenja knew at once what he meant. She looked down for a moment and plucked at the fabric of her former pillow. She had managed to avoid thinking about it for the few moments she'd been awake. Now that she had no other choice but to face the issue she felt curiously empty, kind of detached, as if she was looking inside herself from the outside. Whether it was some kind of healthy mental self-protection or just simple cowardice – she had no idea, and she didn't really care. Trying to analyse her emotions from this disconnected position was a bit creepy and felt very weird, but she tried to do it as thoroughly and honestly as she could.

"I don't know," she said quietly, "okay, I guess. I have no idea how I'm supposed to feel. I mean…." She struggled for words and shrugged, raising her head, "I never had a nervous breakdown before. If that's what it was. I feel… weird, confused, empty, angry… But if you want to know whether I'm going to lose it again – no. At least not right now."    
She gave him a piercing look. "I want to get away from here. I want to know what happened and why. I want to go home!" She cursed the quavering her voice betrayed in the last words and swallowed.

Zura had watched her silently throughout her speech and nodded in confirmation. "You're not the only one. When I find the one responsible for this shit he's going to regret it," he said darkly.

"And I'll be right behind you." Svenja promised savagely. "But to do that we have to get away from here. Any ideas?" she asked, clearly expecting a negative reply and blinked perplexedly at the sudden grin on his face.   
"I think so," he said smugly. "While you were sleeping I picked up some things." He indicated the small pile of bags a short distance away. "I think I can make one of the transmitters work and send an emergency signal."   
Svenja jumped to her feet, elation washing though her. "Really? Oh cool! Someone's going to pick us up? When?" she asked excitedly. 

"It's only a middle range transmitter, only someone close will hear it. This part of space doesn't have a lot of traffic though. But I guess we'll be out of here in about three or four weeks."

On Svenja, that statement had the same deflating effect pulling the plug on an air-filled ball had. "_Three or four weeks?! _We're going to starve! Or do you have food for several weeks?" 

"Actually, yes."   
She ignored his answer and sat down rather abruptly. "Three or four weeks…"   
"Um… maybe earlier." Zura said quickly and slightly panicked when she suddenly started to giggle. "Uh…"  
"Sorry...that's just too…. " she managed to get out before breaking out in laughter, amplified by his bewildered expression. She didn't even know what was so funny in the beginning, but she couldn't help it. Probably some after-effect of the collapse earlier, but she didn't give a damn. Laughing just felt damn good

 "You're completely insane," he stated and shook his head, failing to suppress a grin. 

"Maybe," she grinned when she had calmed down a little 

"Since you're feeling that good now, you can help me with getting those bags back to the building." Zura said and stood up slowly. 

"Right. Just don't throw them at me, okay?"

"It's not my fault you're so slow."

Svenja snorted and scrambled to her feet, walking over to the pile and grabbed several bags.

"Say," she said between gradually subsiding bouts of sniggering, "what about your ship? Can't you fix it somehow?"  
"Nope. Not without the right equipment. It's not even habitable." He grunted, clearly off-balance with the rest of the bags in one hand and the other cradling his tail.

"What's in them?" she asked when they reached their destination and dropped their load. "Food, water, some tools to gain clean water from rain if necessary, some other stuff…. The food's concentrated. Not filling but enriched with vitamins and other stuff needed to survive for a longer period."

"How come you're so prepared?" she asked dubiously. He shrugged. "I've had to stay in rotten places for some time before, once or twice. I like to be prepared."

Svenja nodded thoughtfully. She had no idea what exactly he was talking about, but it made sense. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some minutes later they sat in silence, with Svenja still having the strange taste of Zura's so-called food in her mouth. They had settled near the corner the increased wind reached the least, Svenja clutching the wine bottle she had found, the only thing left from what she had originally brought to this cursed place, miraculously still intact. Besides that she had only found empty containers still releasing a delicious scent, left-over crumbs and a damp and torn paper bag. She felt adrift again, without any clue of what to do or where to go. Only this time the feeling was threaded with angry determination. She _would _get back, somehow. She hoped Zura was right and they would be rescued from here soon. And if, no, _when_ this happened she was one step further down the road home. 

She wondered at their change of behaviour to each other. It felt more… easy, more like an unspoken truce. The suspicion of before was still there, dormant and faintly in the background. Not much time had passed since she had woken up, but the general mood wasn't as strained and hostile as it had been before. She didn't know what had caused it on his side, and herself….  She hadn't have enough time to really digest what had happened, to clear her thoughts and sort out her feelings. There were just too many more pressing matters to deal with for her to spend any energy in maintaining a wary stance that was probably unwarranted. She remembered the reassuring squeeze on her shoulder, and the gratitude she had felt, clutching him as a solid substitute for the ground that had been ripped out from under her feet. For that she was grateful, and it had raised her opinion of him considerably. Which didn't mean everything would be completely different now, she was more than ready to deal with any smart-ass comments from him or anything else. 

"What are you thinking of?" His voice ripped her out of her musings.

"Huh?" She blinked. "Oh. Nothing important. What about the transmitter? Does it take long to make it work?"

"No, not very, but I need better light for it. In a few hours…" he sighed, and Svenja looked closely at him. She had been so busy with her own problems and thoughts to take notice of his state. There were signs of strain and exhaustion clearly visible on his face, its colour considerably paler than when he had woken up. 

"Need another session with your Healing Enhancer thing?" She asked, not liking the idea one bit. It was selfish, sure, but she didn't like to be alone with herself right now. With guilty relief she saw the him shaking his head. "No, it wouldn't work. It did all it could, the rest is up to my body."

"Say," she said hesitatingly after a moment, "do you think I could use it?" She had already been exposed to whatever bacteria this planet's air had, had consumed both water and food of which she had no idea whether it was poisonous or having weird side-effects on her metabolism, but she was far beyond caring and worrying about it. So what harm could that healing device possibly do? A lot, her mind answered her but she ignored it.

"I mean… I'm not as injured as you were, but…" she trailed off, suddenly thinking the idea ridiculous. She was bruised, had several flesh wounds, numerous scratches and grazes and it all hurt like blazes, but nothing she couldn't handle, she told herself.   
She lifted her head to see Zura's eyes looking thoughtfully at her. "You can try, but I can't guarantee it'll work 'cause it's calibrated to my metabolism."

"Wait… do I need an injection?" she asked alarmed, remembering him jamming the needle in his arm. She'd rather keep her current injuries and let them heal the usual way than suffering through the same treatment, thanks very much.

"Problems?" he raised his eyebrows and grinned slightly. "Not yet…" she muttered darkly and gave him a suspicious look, trying to shift away a bit but being hindered by the pile of bags next to her.

"No, the injection was for another purpose. Give me your arm." he instructed her, picking up the device and pressing buttons. She hesitatingly held out her arm, feeling weirdly vulnerable and froze in apprehension when cold fingers and the pads came in contact with her skin. She had been sure it wouldn't hurt in any way, but there are some basic fears one can't fight with logic.   
Relaxing slowly she watched him adjust the buckles with practiced movements and then letting go of her arm.

"What happens now?" she asked, moving her arm a little to test the feeling and weight of the H.E. "Do I fall asleep suddenly like you did or what?"   
"No, not necessarily," came the answer. "But sleep helps. I need some in any case." And with that he laid back against the wall, cradling his tail and closed his eyes. 

"Great," she muttered. "Sleeping on command, as if that ever works…" 

But despite her grumbling she felt the lethargic numbness that always came before sleep envelop her and gladly gave in, hoping her sleep would be dreamless.


	7. Waiting

Disclaimer: See last chapter.

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"Spaghetti pesto... toasted bread with fresh garlic…" Svenja sighed and stared miserably at the colourless lump in her hand. Zura's rations might be nourishing in the basic sense, but they had an indescribable taste that was faintly unpleasant and a texture reminding her of stale cookies.

"You're too fixated on food," Zura commented from his position to her left.

"Shut up…" she muttered and threw the wrapping at him, watching the foil being easily deflected by a casual flick of his hand to bounce off the wall close to her head. She opted to ignore his provoking grin.

His recovery had been simply amazing. It had been two days since Zura had set up the transmitter, and even though his initial recuperation by the Healing Enhancer had been a miracle in itself, she wouldn't have thought his improvement in health during the following days would be that speedy. His movements had lost their slowness and turned to lithe agility, almost gracefulness. Even his tail had healed almost completely as far as she could guess. He was still careful with it, but when he was occupied with other things she had seen it swish from side to side, apparently having a life of its own. Frankly, it freaked her out a bit. 

Her own experiment with the Healing Enhancer hadn't worked, which left her with more itching and aching parts off her body than she cared to count. When she had woken up with her back aching like hell, irrationally disappointed to see her wounds hadn't mended literally over night, she'd tended her wounds as best as she could with the supplies Zura provided. Or rather, he had attended her wounds after that embarrassing incident with what she later learned hadn't been an antiseptic cream but something to drastically enhance circulation. He was obviously used to patching up people, working swiftly and efficiently he bandaged her up in no time. If she herself had done it, she'd probably look like some weird mummy.

"Are you going to eat that? 'Cause if not…" Zura trailed off and glanced at her share of food.   
"You wish…" she snorted and shoved the lump in her mouth, chewing with a vengeance. They had to limit their daily rations since they didn't know when rescue would come, and she'd be damned if she'd miss her 'dinner'.

She liked eating, taking pleasure in tasting different flavours, and now having no other choice but to eat only two disgustingly tasteless masses of _something _twice a day had been quite the change. The first days had been hell, but as time had passed her stomach had shrunken and the hunger pangs decreased. 

"I'm going to check the transmitter," he announced and stood up.

"Wait, I'm coming along," she said and got to her feet. Walking the distance to where the transmitter stood her mind wandered back to the last days.

Nothing really exciting had happened, but at the same time some things had changed. After Zura had set up the transmitter the next day there was nothing to do but wait and hope. And think.

The full impact of everything that had happened and the possible consequences had finally sunken in completely. There had been no denying or prettifying the facts, she owed herself that much honesty, however brutal.  
The tears had come again, something that seemed to start being a habit of hers lately, but it hadn't been as bad as before. Getting rid of the tension and her confusion that way - or rather lessen them to a great extent – had been relieving, she had concluded when it was over. She was a far cry from being content and happy, true, but at least she had some kind of emotional equilibrium back and her thoughts were clear again. She'd even had to laugh a bit when Zura came back from setting up the transmitter and stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing her red and tear-streaked face. It had taken her a moment to explain to him that this wasn't another breakdown and that she wasn't in pain or something like that, that if she had internal bleeding she'd have noticed it way earlier. He probably just didn't want to have a nervous wreck or someone dying around, she had concluded. Who ever would? Still, his concern had touched her.

After that they started to talk. She didn't know who had initiated it, but after it had begun it didn't stop. Some comment here, a casual question there, interrupted by periods of silence that didn't feel uncomfortable. 

They talked about general things, and the inhibitions of talking to a complete stranger had vanished during the first day. There was no one else there and nothing else to do after all, and she found she rather enjoyed it. He didn't seem to be someone who usually talked a lot; she'd caught him more than once looking slightly perplexed as if he was asking himself what the hell he was doing.   
They topics of them being here and the reasons or her breakdown had been carefully avoided until now for some reason. She had no idea what caused him not to raise the subject, but her motive had been mainly cowardice, she had to admit ruefully. Slipping back to the concept of 'What I ignore isn't there' was always a powerful one, but it didn't solve anything, only postponed the inevitable.  
She intended to end the silence, her initial relief of not having to deal with it more than she already did being increasingly overpowered by her desire to talk about it, to bind her thoughts in words and expressing them loudly to make them more real, more tangible and thus better to work with.

They had reached the place where the transmitter stood, about a kilometre away from the ruins where a collapsed structure provided a little shelter from the wind that had steadily increased the last days. When she had asked why he hadn't placed it near the ruins he had told her something about possible distortions too close to his ship. 

Sitting down against a convenient piece of rubble she watched him check the device and wondered how to broach the topic. Turning around after a satisfied nod he walked over to her, narrowing his eyes. "What?" he asked.

Svenja blinked. Was she that easy to read? 'Yes, you are,' a small voice in her mind answered truthfully. She had never been able to control her facial expression and keep her feelings hidden. She mentally slapped the voice down.

Taking a deep breath she decided to just say what came to her mind. "I… need to talk. It's going to take a bit, so sit down. I don't like getting a stiff neck looking up at you the whole time." She waited until he had settled himself next to her, to her astonishment without any remark or question. That guy was more perceptive than he let on. 

"Okay. First of all I want to thank you. For what you did when I had… when I… lost it." Speaking about her breakdown felt strange, as if it had happened to someone else. "Thanks." She lowered her head, feeling suddenly ashamed for not saying something earlier. "I know it's a bit late and I should have said something earlier. But that doesn't mean I'm not serious about it."

"It's okay. No need to thank me," he answered, and she looked at him, wondering about his uneasy expression.

"No need?" her voice rose. "Don't tell me you're one of those people who have problems with gratitude. I meant what I said. Without you I'd… I'd… argh, I don't know! You helped me, you comforted me. Gods, do you know how weird it is telling you that? I have no idea why I broke down like that. No, scratch that, of course I know. But I never had something like that before, and I didn't see it coming and I'm afraid it can happen again any time! I'm scared shitless when I simply _think about that! I don't want it to happen again, I was so… so… _lost_! Any maybe I'd still be if it wasn't for you." Embarrassment at baring her soul like this and the nagging feeling she was being ridiculous battled inside her, but she needed to get it out, even if that meant he'd roll around howling with laughter at her ramblings. "So please do me a favour and just accept my thanks and don't belittle it, okay?"_

Breathing heavily as if she'd been running she braced herself for the worst. Only it didn't come.

Zura started at her, confusion, understanding and other things flickering over his face. He blinked twice and then inclined his head. "I accept your gratitude. I apologize for giving the impression of demeaning your sincerity." He said in an oddly formal voice that made her feel as if some kind of ritual or ceremony was being performed.

"Er..." she stuttered, clearly unprepared for that response. "Okay then," she finished lamely and resisted the sudden urge to kick herself. Not that she'd have managed anyway.  
His face changed from solemnity back to the expression she'd grown used to. "Feeling better now?"   
"Yes," she muttered, suddenly feeling silly for making such a fuss.

"Need a shoulder?" Her head shot up, and she saw him flashing her a teasing grin.

"Yeah, right, make jokes about it!" She snorted and threw a handy piece of rubble at him that he dodged easily. She stuck her tongue out and got to her feet, unable to be really angry. In fact she felt relieved and strangely satisfied to have that issue out of the way.

They made their way back to the ruins in companionable silence.

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A/N: So, what did you think of it? I know, there wasn't a lot of action, but it'll come soon. I want to thank all of you who have reviewed, I appreciate it a lot. You're the ones who keep me going :-)  
If anyone would like to be informed about the next update, just tell me. 


	8. Unexpected

"How long are you going to stay here?"   
Bulma almost hit her forehead on the panel in front of her, jerking at Vegeta's voice. She hadn't even heard him entering the room, so engrossed had she been in her work. "Until I'm finished," she answered belatedly and blinked up to her lover tiredly.   
Vegeta frowned. "What's there to finish? You've been here the whole week."  
It had been ten days since the last disastrous attempt with the machine Bulma still hasn't given a name to, and the rest of the staff simply called it 'Portal' for lack of anything else. Since then the device had been dismantled, checked, re-checked, tested and been assembled again, with no answers to what had gone wrong. The only thing Bulma found in the files monitoring the energy output was a minor power fluctuation, not even enough to trigger the safety shutdown.  
And for the last two days he'd seen close to nothing of her, when she came to bed early in the mornings she was already half-asleep, and as soon as she woke up she headed back to the lab.

"Get up!" He said curtly, hauling her up to her feet and ignoring her feeble struggling. "Stop it!" he snapped, glaring at her. "You've gone through each part and function how many times now? Six? Seven? It's _enough!  If you haven't found anything yet, you won't now."  
Bulma glared at him but had to admit he was right. She almost couldn't look straight anymore from trying to concentrate for hours without taking a break, and she felt leaden with exhaustion. Still, the uncertainty nagged at her, she __hated it when she didn't get definite answers to a problem. She slumped against his chest and closed her eyes, feeling the frustration seeping out of her to be replaced by the warmth and sense of security she always felt when with Vegeta. _

"Look," he said quietly, wrapping her in his arms and stroking her back softly. "There's nothing more you can do right now. You were the one insisting to have a new test-run as soon as possible. And that's in seven hours, so you'd better be awake then."

Bulma nodded against his chest, inhaling his scent and enjoying his rare display of affection when they were in a place someone else could barge into at any moment. Though that wasn't likely at this time of the night. Sharing an increasingly heated kiss with Vegeta that made her blood rush to some lower parts of her body, she decided she still had some energy left. And she knew exactly what she wanted to do with it.

##################

"C–cold . . ." Svenja shivered and pulled her legs closer to her, exposing as little of her to the biting wind as possible.

"Stop it!" Zura grunted when she tried futilely but persistently to shift further backwards into the corner. "And take your elbow out of my stomach," he wheezed after another jerking movement of her arm robbed him of air, threatening the digestion of the recently consumed rations.

"Well, sorry!" she snapped, the impact of her anger lessened by her voice quivering with cold, but did as he had asked.

The temperature had decreased rapidly over the last few days and the wind had taken up speed. It was bitingly cold and not even the corner of the ruins they sat huddled against provided more than a slight lessening of the wind's force.

Twice each day he went to check the transmitter, and he'd taken to dragging her along by force if necessary. 

He hadn't liked the glazed sheen her eyes had taken on two or three days ago, gazing out of a pale face with irregular spots of red, and when he had placed a hand on the side of her neck he had found her temperature above the normal level and her pulse beating faster. He knew a fever when he saw one, and in lack of any medication he could provide he tried to keep her circulation up and running as best as he could.  
He snorted inwardly. He had medical equipment for a lot of diseases, numerous antidotes and other things to help cure actual injuries, but nothing against a simple fever. It'd be useless anyway, since his Saiyan immune system could battle and defeat almost any virus like that. And if that wasn't enough he had the H.E. to give it an additional boost.

Her response to him hauling her through the howling and freezing wind twice each day hadn't been enthusiastic, to say the least, but he hadn't budged. He had no idea if it really helped her –after all he didn't really know her species– but he knew from experience that people sharing similar traits like blood colour, number of limbs or breathing of oxygen usually had a matching physiology. And this way he could at least keep an eye on her. The thought of returning from one of his trips to maybe find her slipped into a coma or worse had been an chilling one. He once had to watch a comrade slowly bleeding to death with no way to help him, and he had no intention of experiencing _that_ again.  
Apart from the aversion to repeat the feeling of complete helplessness, he found he'd miss her somehow. Zura snorted quietly and shook his head at the thought. He had never been a social person, only rarely partaking in the diversions the space stations he'd stopped offered, keeping mostly to himself and not forming any closer bonds with people. And he had been content with it, still was. Considering that, it felt strange admitting to himself he'd miss someone he had known for only a few days.  
Maybe it was because she was the only other person in this place, or the fact that he had no definite idea when help would arrive worried him more than he wanted to admit.   
Or it was simply the instinct-induced old 'male protects female' routine, he thought with a dry chuckle. Yeah, right. Instincts were a powerful force, but he thought it highly unlikely that this was the reason he enjoyed Svenja's company.

"You know what?" Her voice brought him back to the present. Her head craned up and sideways, she looked at him quizzically and grinned. "Watching your face when you're thinking has a certain entertainment factor."

He scowled down at her, clearly thinking it less funny than she did.  
"Watch it," he growled, "or I'll drag you out to the transmitter and tie you to it for a day."  
"Yeah right." she scoffed, but a glint of doubt flickered across her eyes. His scowl deepened. Did she really think he'd do it? He wondered, feeling slightly offended with an odd pang in his stomach  
"Oh, shut up." He grumbled and shifted slightly, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back against his chest. 

They had taken to sleeping like that, effectively using the shared warmth to maintain body temperature. It was a sensible thing to do, they both had agreed after waking up a few days ago with numb hands and fingers and feeling frozen to the bone. Zura had been relieved she didn't make a fuss about it, having no problem with the physical contact required. It was a rare thing to meet someone not interpreting things the wrong way or searching for hidden meanings behind everything. She had simply accepted things as they were and recognized the advantage in his offer, of preventing possible hypothermia and just plainly avoiding feeling like an ice-cube.

In fact, _she _was the one having the biggest advantage in this, he grumbled inwardly when she snuggled into the by now familiar position and closed her eyes. She was smaller than he, benefiting from the heat his larger frame and generally higher body temperature provided and balling herself up tight against him.

"Oh. great!" he groaned when a particular violent gust of wind splashed drops of moisture on his face. Had his luck run out completely? Glaring at the boring sight the natural 'window' provided he swore under his breath, cursing each and every rain cloud to hell and back. What would come next? An earthquake or lightning that made the ruins crumble? Damn, he wished his ship was habitable.

"What?" Svenja asked distractedly, the alertness in her eyes from before gone and replaced by a tired and slightly unfocused gaze. Zura frowned. That happened way too frequently for his comfort lately, her awareness slipping and her gaze taking on that glassy-eyed quality he knew was never a good sign.

"Nothing. Just fucking rain," he growled, and turned his back against the air current as much as was possible in those close quarters.   
"By the way, you didn't tell me what happened after you triggered the fire alarm in your school," he prompted, wanting her to concentrate, to keep her thoughts active. It might only be his Saiyan way of seeing things, the deeply rooted principle of 'As long as you keep yourself you can survive' - which admittedly had been meant for different circumstances like the transformation triggered by the full moon -  but he had adapted to almost everything nevertheless. And he also had to admit he really _did _want to know what had happened.   
After the day she had thanked him near the transmitter things had been way more relaxed regarding their talking. Her gratitude had been something he'd never expected and her fierce reaction to his dismissive words had baffled and taken him aback even more, making him speak the words of the traditional apology, one of the few Saiyan customs and rituals he remembered.   
They had started to talk to each other in a different, easier way than before. He had found her easy acceptance of opinions different to hers refreshing, along with her straight-forwardness.

Her habit of using hands and arms a lot while describing persons or happenings had taken some time to get used to, but he had learned to anticipate her sudden movements when she was excited or angered without suffering any permanent damage. Only a stinging slap in his face with the back of her hand and almost getting his nose smashed by her elbow.  
She probably could defeat a lot of people by only talking to them, he thought with a grin.

 "Fire alarm?? Oh, fuck!" she groaned, and Zura grinned at his success in ripping her out of her stupor as well as in anticipation of her story. Her refusal to spare herself when it came to describing embarrassing events wasn't only quite amusing but also gave him lots of details he could tease her with. On the other hand, she gave as good as she got. He coloured slightly when he remembered how he had finally relented to her bugging and told her about some incidents he'd never imagined he'd willingly share with anyone.  
"Well? What happened?" he asked, shoving the memory aside  and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Alright!" she grumbled and throwing her arms up in exasperation, not seeing him dodge but feeling the sudden movement at her back. Blinking confused for a moment her eyes took on a shrewd look and she shot him an evil grin. "But only if you tell me what else happened at Kaweja Station. I mean, there has to be more to it than you just…"   
"Don't!" he exclaimed and slapped a hand over her mouth, feeling his cheeks burning. There weren't many things that upset him, but having a shipload of medical ingredients that turned bad, contaminating his own supplies, had been an experience he'd gladly wipe out of his memories. Especially since the result had been him waking up in the medical department of Kaweja without any knowledge what had happened the last two days. What he had been told on second hand had been enough to avoid that space station ever since. "I should have never told you," he muttered and suppressed a shudder.   
"Hey! Are you out of your fucking mind?" he yelled and snatched his hand back, looking in disbelief at the teeth marks on his palm. She _bit_ him!

"Serves you right," she grumbled and wiped her mouth, fixing him with a dark glare. "I don't particularly like my air supply cut off, you know?" Snatching his hand he was still staring at, she glanced at the fading teeth marks and snorted. "Oh, don't be such a baby. That couldn't have hurt _that _much."  
Zura couldn't suppress a bark of laughter. She couldn't be more far off the point, but he had no intention explaining his incredulity had nothing to do with pain at all. Seeing her looking at him suspiciously, he forestalled any question he wasn't willing to answer with something that felt suspiciously like faint panic. "Alright! Whatever. I'll tell you about Kaweja. But you're first."  
Sighing inwardly with relief, he saw her curiosity about mortifying details of his life triumphing over his reaction to her assumption, and he made himself as comfortable as possible pressed against the cold bricks, coiling his still slightly sore tail tightly next to him and focussed on the source of heat he kept closely pressed to his front.

-------------------------------

Zura's eyes shot open. Eyes darting in each direction and listening hard he tried to keep as still as possible. A slight frown formed on his face when he didn't notice anything unusual, only the sounds and smells that had surrounded him since he came here, but he knew he could trust his instincts. He had trained them in years of practise and experience and knew better than to just dismiss them, even or _especially if there wasn't anything out of ordinary._

There was some kind of _wrongness_ in the air, a strange kind of tension that made the hair on the nape of his neck rise. Moving for the first time since waking up he slowly lifted his head, straining with all his senses to find something, _anything_ he could pinpoint as the source of the steadily-increasing feeling of agitation that rose in him, and finding nothing.

A faint tugging on his sleeve almost gave him a heart attack and he just barely managed to swallow an oath. Concentrating outwards he had failed to notice what happened in his immediate surroundings, and he resolved to kick himself later, hard. Looking down he met Svenja's questioning gaze, an expression of unease on her face. 

"Gods, what _is_ that?" she whispered, obviously feeling the need for silence, too, and wariness spread over her face when he shrugged his shoulders minutely. She was feeling it too? 

"I don't know yet." he answered equally silent and carefully unwrapped his arms. He then nudged her, motioning for her to move forward and carefully extracted himself out of his sandwiched position. Putting a steadying hand on the wall he took a step towards the middle of the ruins when he felt a hard grip on his leg.  
"What are you doing?" Svenja hissed, too loud for his comfort, and he put a finger on his lips, causing her to close her mouth and glare at him. Getting to her feet faster than he'd thought her able to she put her mouth close to his ear. "Look, I don't know why because there's no one else here, but I feel as if someone's lurking around the corner ready to jump out any moment," she breathed, not quite successfully in hiding her panic.  "Don't leave me alone here!"

 Zura closed his eyes briefly, smelling her unease and anxiety so alike his own and put a hand on her arm.   
"I'll be right back. I promise," he said. "Wait here, I won't be long." With that he turned around, seeing in the corner of his eye her arm rising slightly and then fall limply back to her side.  
He moved stealthily along the wall to the opening, pausing briefly and then darting around it. 

Crouching low to the ground he skirted the perimeter of the ruins swiftly, frequently pausing to search for anything out of the ordinary. When he had rounded the former building, he _still hadn't found anything and fought down a flash of frustration. Squatting down he took some deep and calming breaths and closed his eyes, concentrating only on the feeling of wrongness. Since he was unable to find anything with the usual methods, he could at least try to pinpoint the direction the feeling was coming from, he reasoned. Trying to separate his own feeling of unease from the actual source was difficult, and he was close to admitting defeat when he found something. Holding his breath he grasped it, focused on it and tried to find out where it led to.   
His eyes snapped open._

"Shit!" he exploded and leaped through the opening in a flash, causing Svenja to jump and scream in fright. Reaching her in four quick strides he grabbed her around the waist and pulled them both against the wall.

"What?!" she yelled and looked around wildly after she realized it was him and not a physical embodiment of her feeling from minutes earlier. Adrenaline pumped through his body as he felt the creepy tension growing, drowning out the relief he felt to see her unharmed and the building as quiet as before.

 "Dammit, talk to me!" She almost sobbed in panic, her fingers digging fiercely in his arms.

Breathing hard he looked down into her terrified eyes and spoke rapidly. "Out. We have to get out of here, quickly! It's coming from here!"   
"What?"   
"Later!" He cut her short and strengthened his grip around her, "don't let go!" But even as he took the first step towards the opening he knew it was too late.

Something flickered, a roughly rectangular shape appearing in the middle of the room, effectively blocking their only way to escape. He had cursed the large opening more than once during the last days since it provided almost no shelter against the brunt of the wind, but now he wished it were larger.

Svenja moaned in fear and wrapped her arms tightly around his body, burying her head in his chest.

Crushing her shaking body fiercely against him he watched the flickering shape take on substance. Already the bricks on the wall behind the rectangular outline weren't clearly visible anymore, and the shape increased rapidly in visibility and clarity. He desperately wanted to do something, _anything_ to defend himself.

What he wasn't prepared for was the sudden bright flash that seemed to pierce his eyeballs and went straight into his brain like a barbed spear of agony. Screaming with pain he stumbled backwards and fell to his knees, waves of red throbbing anguish rolling through his mind. Half-bending, half-falling over Svenja's limp form he felt strength and consciousness leave him, and when his head touched the ground he knew nothing more.

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A/N: Well… I told you something would happen :-) Please tell me what you think of it, I really need the feedback.


	9. A change of location

DISCLAIMER: Nothing new since the last chapter. I still don't own DBZ.

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"Ooff!" Svenja groaned when the sudden weight of Zura on her torso expelled the air from her lungs.

"Hey!" she wheezed when he didn't move and boxed him in the side, one of the few places she could reach with her arms pinned as they were. The spell of immobility she had been caught in moments earlier had disappeared, but with Zura lying across her this renewed manoeuvrability was of no use at all. Blowing away strands of his hair on her face she scrunched her nose, fighting down the urge to sneeze.

"Hey!" she repeated in alarm when she still didn't get any reaction. She hadn't hit him hard, really, but it should have been enough to at least evoke a reply. Come to think of it, his body was really heavy and without any form of tension, she realized with a sinking feeling in her gut.

Frowning she twisted her head to the side, moving it backwards as fast as she could to get a clear view of his face. Her breath caught in her throat and she felt icy fingers crawling down her spine. The dread she had felt earlier that she had been unable to explain rationally had vanished, only to be replaced now by a different fear, with the reasons for it laying a short distance away from her face.

His head was lying on her shoulder and left upper arm heavily, cutting off the circulation in her limb. His skin was deathly pale and had a waxen sheen, and dark blotches were forming under his closed eyes. Blood was trickling out of his ear, forming bright red lines that ran across his face and disappeared where their skins met.

"Shit! Zura!" she yelled and started to struggle against his weight, her stomach a hard knot in her belly. "Gods, please don't be dead, please!" she muttered over and over without noticing.   
Gathering all her strength she tried to heave him off her or at least roll them sideways, but to no avail. Releasing a sob of frustration, she ceased her struggles after a few attempts. How could anyone be so damn heavy? Granted, she'd had no leverage, but she had thought she was stronger than that. All she had managed was to shift him his weight a little to the side and free her right arm.   
"Zuraaaa!" she pleaded through gritted teeth, trying to fight down the horrible suspicion that grew in her. She slapped her hand to the side of his neck, frantically searching his pulse point. His skin was cold and clammy, the attribute 'lifeless' flashing unbidden through her mind.   
Forcing her hand to stop shaking she tried to calm enough to feel something else than her own heart beating painfully in her chest. Emitting a small sound of relief, she let her head fall back to the stony ground and briefly closed her eyes when she felt the faint beating against her fingers. Alive, she thought relieved and blinked away the sudden moisture in her eyes. Alive, but only barely. She didn't know much about his metabolism, but she figured that a pulse being very slow and almost imperceptible wasn't a good sign. Gently pushing his hair out of his face she searched for a sign of consciousness but found nothing. Her joy at him not being dead was replaced by worry, but before she could figure out how best to get out from under him and what to do next something unexpected happened that stunned her.

The faces of two men appeared above her, and two pairs of hands took hold of Zura and lifted him off her a bit. Svenja stared uncomprehending at the new arrivals and wondered for a fleeting moment whether she had now gone completely insane, but dismissed the notion at once.   
Her attention had been solely focused on Zura, and only now did she realize that there had been noises that by all account shouldn't be here. 

What the hell?

Wriggling sideways until she could raise herself, she sat up and opened her mouth to say something but found herself to be unable to utter a sound.

There was some kind of large window reminding her of a giant television that stood unsupported in the middle of the room where a few minutes ago had been nothing but thin air and a strange flicker of light, shortly before she had hidden her face in Zura's chest. The edges of it were wavering and blurred, but the main picture was pin sharp. It was a bright room with instruments and devices placed on tables where several white-coated people were talking agitatedly and hacking furiously on keyboards.

Svenja' eyes grew round when she saw four of them bearing stretchers walk _through_ the window.

"Wha..?" she croaked disbelieving and pushed down the sudden urge to break out in either hysterical giggles or a screaming fit, whatever came first.

The two men had lowered Zura again to the floor and one called to the four people with stretchers, motioning for them to hurry over.

Svenja blinked, suddenly calm. Looking down at Zura lying next to her she reached out and took his limp hand. She had no idea what happened right then and why, and she feared she would go mad when she thought too much about it. But within her jumbled thoughts and confusion one thing stood crystal clear.

She didn't want him to die. 

Gripping her companion's cold hand firmly she raised her head and looked at the man kneeling on the other side of Zura's form determinedly. Wherever those people came from and how wasn't important, caution and answers could come later. Right now priorities were laying elsewhere.

"Help him!" she said to the man, uncaring that it sounded more like a command than a request.

The man blinked at her and nodded once. "That's what we mean to do." he said reassuringly and stood up to make way for the stretchers. "Can you walk?" he asked.

"Dunno." she answered. She was reluctant to release Zura's hand, but it would only slow things down. And besides she felt slightly unsteady and rather wanted to have both arms free for balance, especially since the one Zura was had been laying on started to tingle painfully.

"Wait!" one of the new arrivals stopped her when she attempted to get to her knees. "Better remove that first. Just in case the muscles are locked." he said, and pointed down when she looked at him in puzzlement. Tears sprang to Svenja's eyes when she realized what he meant. A brown appendage, patches of fur still missing due to the injuries of when Zura had crashed down here, was curled loosely around her middle. 

"Shit", she whispered and wiped away the moisture running down her face. "No! Let me." she intercepted the men's attempts to help her. Placing her hands on his tail for the first time she gently unwrapped it around her and lowered it carefully to the ground. "Be careful. It was broken." she mumbled absent-mindedly and stared at it. She hadn't even noticed it but now that it was gone she felt the cold attacking her skin where it had rested.

He had protected her, had come running into the ruins and tried to get them both away and had not once relinquished his grip on her. She had got the impression that he was very private about his tail, that his carefulness with it was based on more than the injury. That his tail had been wrapped around her touched her deeply for reasons she couldn't find words for. He had protected her until the last moment.

The men had finished transferring Zura's body onto the stretcher and lifted it carefully. One of the men offered her a hand, and gripping it she pushed herself to her feet, finding her balance after a moment. 

Walking between the stretcher and the man hovering close to her in case she fell, the small group walked towards the window-like apparition. On the other side people had stopped their hectic activity, watching their approach with expressions varying from disbelieving astonishment to guarded curiosity.

Svenja regarded them closely, welcoming the distraction keeping her away from thinking. She didn't want to think, didn't want to do anything but to take one step at a time, acknowledge each moment as it came, no questions asked and no answers given. Cowardly, yes, but she just didn't have the energy. Maybe later.

Apart from the men accompanying her and Zura towards to window there were six other white-coated persons in her line of vision, both male and female and of different ages. One of them, a woman with bluish hair walked over to the side where several computers and monitors dominated the room and looked up expectantly.

Svenja swallowed when they approached the window and involuntarily tensed up when she stepped through it. She didn't know what she had expected, a barrier of some sort or a tingling feeling. But there was nothing, only a gradual change of temperature when she entered the warmer room, and she felt irrationally disappointed.  The woman at the computer nodded satisfied once they were through and punched a sequence of keys. There was a bright flash behind Svenja, and she whirled around in startlement. The ruins, the building she had spent the last week and more had vanished. All that was left was a rectangular metal structure, looking dull and unremarkable. She suddenly felt strangely bereft and incredibly lonely, walking though the room full of people and with the only familiar person being out cold. There was no time to think about it though, they were ushered through a door and into another room she clearly recognised was used for medical purposes. 

The men moved Zura's body from the stretcher onto a kind of surgery table, the bright lights over it making his face appear almost white. Svenja hovered near the table, feeling worried and useless, but refusing when one of the men asked her to move away.

"No." She said stubbornly, shaking her head and starting to tremble. There was no way she would leave now, absolutely no way. She glared defiantly at the man, trying unsuccessfully to lock her shaking legs.   
The man looked at her with a worried frown and exchanged a glance and a nod with someone behind her.

Svenja barely felt the hands that prevented her from falling and carried her over to a second surgery table nearby. Frustration at her body failing her, her helplessness and at the realization she couldn't do anything at all washed through her.

The woman who had sat at the computer was there suddenly and talked to her, but Svenja had trouble concentrating on the questions, her attention focused on the body laying a few meters away from her, and she shook her head. "What?" she asked more out of reflex rather than of actual interest.

The woman sighed and shook her head slightly. "Never mind." she answered and smiled a thanks at someone who handed her a cup with steaming liquid. "Here. Drink that." she said and pressed the cup firmly in Svenja's hand, watching her emptying the cup. The strangely-coloured stuff tasted peculiar but not unpleasant, and left a warm trail down her throat and in her stomach.

There must have been something in it to make her sleep, she thought detachedly as she felt numbness enveloping her body. She couldn't gather the energy to be angry or concerned about it, things were out of her hands now.

"Help him." she mumbled at the woman who looked down at her and caught the cup that rolled out of Svenja's hand. The last thing she saw before sleep enveloped her was a reassuring smile and a nod. 

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Bulma closed the door to her room and leaned back against it, sighing wearily. She had spent the last hours collecting and saving data from the Portal, getting a thorough medical check-up from the doctor along with the other technicians present in the lab this morning and generally trying to make sense of what happened.

There had been no mistake about the coordinates, she had checked and rechecked the settings, they were the same as the first time. And it was also the same destroyed building that had appeared in the Portal. 

Everything had been the same, except for the fact that this time there were no overlapping of different landscapes and no emergency shut-down of the device. And for the two people.

"Anything new?" Came the harsh voice of Vegeta from a corner and he stepped into the light. Bulma regarded him tiredly. Since this morning his mood had darkened considerably. They had all been stunned by the  unexpected presence of two persons at the other side of the Portal, and the collapsing of them following that terrible scream that made goose bumps appear on Bulma's skin at the memory. Her team, trained to deal with emergencies and unexpected events without making a fuss and talking things over first – an essential quality when working at Capsule Corporation – had acted fast and efficiently when she gave her okay to get the two people who were obviously at the end of their strength, into the CC compound and under treatment. They were in the med section now under quarantine, but the doctor had said they carried no known virus, bacteria or any potentially dangerous and contagious diseases. The virus causing the girl's illness was a known one and already treated, and the man…

"Well?" Vegeta snapped harshly and Bulma's eyes narrowed. "Stop it, Vegeta! No, nothing new since half an hour ago when you were down there yourself. What the hell _is_ it?" she demanded angrily. With all the things that had happened today, the last she needed was an argument with her pissed-off lover.

"That man is a Saiyan!" he yelled, his unusually agitated face only inches away from hers. 

"You don't know for sure, the tests aren't finished and…"

"He is. I _know_." He said firmly. Bulma frowned. She trusted his opinion in that matter, Vegeta had a kind of sixth sense for his own species. But still. "But how can that be? You said yourself that in the whole time you worked for Frieza you didn't hear or see anything about other surviving Saiyans except Radditz, Nappa and Goku. So how.."

"I don't know!" he shouted and beat a fist against and inadvertently through the wall.

Bulma swallowed her complaint and looked at Vegeta quizzically. So _that_ was it.

She hadn't thought about what would happen if Vegeta met a fellow Saiyan other than Goku since Vegeta himself had declared there was none, but it made sense that it affected him. But she had no idea why he was so angry. 

"Look," she said exasperatedly, "the doc said he'd be out of the regen tank in a few hours, you just have to wait until then."

Cursing under his breath he turned around and stalked out onto the balcony, followed by Bulma. "And don't be late for dinner!" she yelled at his rapidly retreating form flying away from the house.

"Asshole." she muttered and closed the balcony door. Whatever it was that bugged him, he'd deal with it, as he usually did. She had learned from experience early on that it was no use trying to talk when something troubled him, he either told her about it or not. And she had too many other things on her mind to worry about his bout of male PMS or something.

Kicking off her shoes she set her alarm clock on 5 p.m and flopped down on her bed, determined to get a few hours rest.

##################################################

A/N: Well, that's it for this chapter. So, what do you think? Please let me know, okay?

And I have a request. I need a topic for my diploma paper and frankly have no idea. So, if you have any ideas or suggestions about a possible topic, please tell me.   
It has to do with English language and/or culture and there should be some literature available about it.   
I'm open to any kind of suggestion, so if you have something in mind, don't hesitate to tell me, okay?

Thanks :-) 


	10. Revelations

Disclaimer: Still don't own it.

A/N: It's really amazing what inspiration can do to you. *grins* Therefore, this chapter is dedicated to you guys, who made me stay enthusiastic and motivated the whole weekend. You know who you are ;-)

############################

Zura slowly woke to the sensations of floating and weightlessness, and some liquid slightly warmer than his body temperature surrounding him. 'Oh no, not again!' he thought exasperatedly, and bubbles escaped the breathing mask he wore, tickling his skin on their way upwards. He recognized where he was, or rather in _what _he currently was. 

The smell of the liquid was slightly different, but there was no mistaking the underlying stench of  the substance found in ReGen tanks everywhere throughout the known universe. Once a scientist had attempted to cover the odour with artificial flavours, but that experiment hadn't been a success. Who would want to wake up from almost getting killed to find themselves immersed in a liquid smelling of fruit or flowers? Especially since it took a couple of days until you could get rid off the smell completely, no matter how much you washed. Stuff that analysed your DNA and repaired your injuries by activating and hastening the curative process, and essentially was a part of you until replaced by the body's own tissue, worked that way. For most people having the doubtful pleasure of being placed in a ReGen regularly, the smell of the liquid meant that they were alive. They complained and grumbled about it, but they valued it for its meaning. The saying "Life stinks" had taken on a whole new meaning among mercenaries and people with similar dangerous jobs.

Unpleasant memories of the last time he had been in a similar situation assaulted him and, but since he was sure he hadn't been nearly disembowelled again lately he was able to shove them away.

What had happened then? The last he remembered was being on Lokran with Svenja and seeing some incredibly bright light. And then pain. He frowned, trying to remember more but failed. Clearly he had been brought from Lokran to wherever he was now, by people who were probably not hostile, else he wouldn't be in a ReGen. On the other hand there was the one or other planet where people got healed so they lasted longer in torture…  
He had unconsciously cast out his awareness after wakening but hadn't sensed or heard anything but the hum of the ReGen and some faint rhythmic beeping. That changed suddenly, he sensed people coming and heard a door being opened rather forcefully. He tensed up, careful not to make any movements that could indicate to the system he was awake and trigger it to drain the tank as the last part of a ReGen session. As long as he didn't know whether the people here were friendly or not he had no intention of giving his consciousness away. The tank muted noise, but his enhanced hearing and the loudness of the voices, or rather one voice, made it no problem for him to listen. 

"…. demand to know what you did to him! And why…. Shit!" he heard a familiar voice changing from anger to horror. "What the fuck is _that_?"

He cracked an eye open carefully and tried to see through the liquid's distortion and the transparent hull toward the group of three people that had entered the room. Svenja was standing before a white-clad elderly man, an expression of fury and betrayal on her face. She wore new clothes, her tattered garments from before gone and replaced by a baggy set of loose pants and sweatshirt.  "You said you'd help him!"  
"I did, as you…"  
"You did?! Is _that _your idea of helping? Stuffing an injured man in a big bowl of water?" Her voice took on a shrill tone.  
"Look, it _is_ helping him, and you would see that if you'd just listen!" the man, clearly at the end of his patience, snapped. "Besides, a little gratitude wouldn't be amiss, you know?"  
"Gratitude?" Svenja exploded, managing to express impressive amounts of indignation and outrage in three small syllables. "Well _excuse me_! During the last two weeks I have been snatched out of my familiar surroundings against my will, got almost flattened by a space ship, was confronted with stuff that is thought impossible where I come from, had a nervous breakdown and was frozen to the bone! And the only one that made that whole shit bearable is over there!" she gestured wildly in the direction of the ReGen. "So excuse me if I'm a tiny little bit edgy right now. How incredibly _stupid_ of me not showing gratitude when I'm once again somewhere I don't know and the only familiar person is looking like a giant version of the formaldehyde-preserved stuff we had in biology class at school! Well, THANK YOU!" she finished with a roar, breathing heavily and glaring at the man who had wisely stepped back when she had started waving her arms for emphasis.

Zura blinked, impressed. He wouldn't have been surprised if she had smoke coming out her ears.

"That's enough." a female voice cut in, and only other occupant of the room, woman with blue hair stepped forward. "Doctor Chester, I'll take over from here. Go get some rest, you certainly deserve it. No buts." She smiled at the white-clad man and led him grumbling towards the door.   
"I'm really thankful." Svenja said miserably after he had gone. "Honestly, I am. It's just…"

"Leave it." the woman interrupted. "You're both in a bad mood right now. He's not really a people person, and you're not a doctor person it seems." She grinned when Svenja blushed slightly and rubbed at a small wound on the back of her hand, the change of colour being weirdly distorted by the pale blueish liquid in the tank. "But you really don't have to worry, the thing over there is a Regeneration Tank that helped him heal. You're boyfriend's fine."  
Zura's eyebrows shot up.  
"He's _not _my boyfriend!" Svenja protested, flustered.  
"He's not? But he had his tail wrapped around you."  
Zura twitched involuntarily, his eyebrows threatening to disappear in his hairline and bubbles of air escaping his breathing mask. He had _what_?!  
"Yeah, but…" Svenja started to answer, confusion apparent in her expression.

A shrill beeping noise cut off what she wanted to say, and the woman stepped over to a console to push some buttons. "He's awake." she said and went back to stay next to Svenja whose head had jerked around at the statement.  

 He felt the liquid being drained away, and after something clicked the transparent hull opened. Removing the breathing mask he took a deep breath, relieved to inhale normal air again, and stood up. Stepping out of the ReGen he enjoyed the feeling of excessive energy coursing through him, one of the few advantages of the things in his opinion, besides the life saving aspect.

"Hi there. Welcome to Capsule Corporation. I'm Bulma." the woman said, and stepped forward with a friendly smile. "We brought you here from Lokran. You were in a pretty bad shape so we put you in the Regeneration Tank. I know it's kinda weird, waking up in that stuff, but…"   
Zura stopped her with a half-raised arm and stepped down the small platform. "I know. I've been in them before." Two blue eyebrows rose speculatively at the statement and a thoughtful look came over her face.

Svenja was looking at him with wide eyes, her slightly stunned gaze slowly wandering up his body and stopping at his face. Zura felt a smile tug at the corner of his mouth, unaccountably pleased at the reaction.

"You might want to start breathing again," Bulma murmured in a low voice and nudged her. Svenja blinked and coloured slightly. Narrowing her eyes at his raised eyebrow and the knowing grin he couldn't keep off his face, she stuck her tongue out at him. "Not one stupid remark, I warn you!" she growled and crossed her arms at his sniggering. "What's so funny, huh?" she challenged, trying unsuccessfully to eye him up without him noticing as he walked closer.  
"You're okay?" he asked when he reached her, pushing the strange effects her appreciative glance had on him to the side to analyse them later. She nodded. "More or less. You?"   
"Great." he answered, feeling as if he could run for days without stopping. Flexing his muscles absent-mindedly he enjoyed the feeling of health and energy he hadn't had felt since his crash. "What do you mean, more or less?"  
"Nothing important." she answered after ripping her eyes forcefully away from his arms and shook her head, muttering something under her breath he didn't quite catch. She started to smile after regarding him for a moment and suddenly stepped forward to hug him fiercely, causing his arms to go around her reflexively. "Good to see you're okay." she muttered in his chest, breath fanning warmly over slightly damp skin.   
Zura blinked at the amount of relief in her voice. Lifting his head he looked quizzically at Bulma who stood to the side and not even tried to hide her grin. "What exactly did you mean with 'pretty bad shape'?"  
"Well," she answered, "you had some almost-healed injuries from not long ago and some of them reopened. Nothing we couldn't handle, but you had too many torn muscles and ligaments for us to use more conventional methods. Not to mention the amount of adrenaline in your body. What did you do? It looked like you tensed up suddenly beyond the abilities of your body to cope with the strain. I didn't even know that could happen…. Anyway, it was either bandaging you up from head to toe after dealing with the rest of your injuries or put you in the tank. Oh, and your eardrums were ruptured. So don't wonder if you have a little trouble finding your balance."  
"Ah." he answered, unable to come up with something more intelligent at the moment. That bad, huh? He had no clue how he had managed to hurt himself that way, and he was sure he would have remembered. Tensing up beyond his physical limits? That was something new, and totally contrary to one's own self-preservation instincts.

"How about we continue our talk elsewhere? Honestly, I really need a coffee." Bulma sighed.  
"Coffee?!" Svenja's head jerked up and Zura's teeth clacked together at the connection of her head with his chin. "Ow!"  
"Yep, coffee. And you should put on some clothes." Bulma sniggered and waved to a pile of clothing on a nearby table. Consciously becoming aware of his state of dress or rather undress at the moment he stepped back, releasing Svenja the same instant she snatched her arms back, and felt blood rushing to his face.   
"Uh, right." he said and turned towards the pile of clothes, wondering what was wrong with him. He usually didn't have problems with nudity, his own or others, so what was the problem? Probably after-effects of the ReGen, those things sometimes did weird things to people, he dismissed the uncharacteristic feeling from before as he pulled on black pants. Besides, being in familiar surroundings with not enough information about his current situation made him feel somehow uneasy, and there was a kind of comfort in the imaginary protection clothes provided. 

Turning around he looked at two carefully blank faces and felt a blush creeping up his neck and towards his face. 'Stupid fucking ReGen's!' he snarled inwardly and fought to get his circulation under control. So what if they got a kick out of watching him dress?

"Good." Bulma nodded and turned towards the door. "Believe me, you wouldn't want to catch a cold, you'd have to get the same treatment as Svenja here. And I somehow doubt Dr. Chester has any interest having another patient going crazy in his lab and throwing instruments at him." Bulma said and grinned at Svenja who shifted uncomfortably. Zura cast her a questioning glance and she glared at him defiantly. "Yes, so what? That guy scared the shit out of me!" she said.   
"Apparently the doctor wanted to take some blood samples when she woke up." Bulma elaborated and opened the door, motioning for them to exit the room. "Maybe he should have explained."  
"Oh." Zura answered, getting the picture. Svenja had told him about her fear of needles, and he could imagine what had happened when she opened her eyes to see a stranger bending over her and holding a syringe.

"I overreacted a bit." Svenja muttered as they proceeded down the hallway.

Bulma laughed aloud. "A bit? That's an understatement. You ripped out the drip and…"

"Alright! Change of topic, please!"

"Whatever you say." their guide sniggered and Zura bit back a chuckle. As much to give Svenja a chance to  regain her normal face colour as out of his own curiosity he asked "Don't get me wrong, but I don't see any guards around here. Isn't it risky to be alone with two possibly hostile strangers without anyone to help you? You don't know us."  
"Oh, we have a very good security system here." Bulma answered, not sounding uneasy or offended in the slightest, and opened the door at the end of the corridor. "And if that fails, I have my own kind of protection." She ushered them in a comfy looking kitchen. "Or rather, I usually have." she muttered darkly to herself and for no reason Zura could fathom  looked out of a window to the sky beyond. "Besides, I don't think you're hostile. Sit down." She motioned to a table and went to get three mugs and pot.

"Well." she said when she was finished pouring. "I guess you have some questions. I'll answer as well as I can, but then it's my turn, okay? Good."

Zura exchanged a look with Svenja who shrugged. "Right." he said, trying to collect his thoughts. "Where are we?"  
"Earth."  
"Impossible." Svenja interjected, staring wide-eyed out of the window and pointing. "Flying cars?!"

"Why, yes." Bulma answered puzzled. "They're quite common."

"That can't be. Look, _I'm_ from Earth. And I think I'd know if we had that." she said firmly, an expression of amazement and envy on her face.  
"Let's clear that up later. Okay, so you brought us from Lokran to Earth." Zura said and laid a hand on Svenja's forearm to cut off her objection. "How?"

"With the Portal. Basically it's a device to cover long distances with only a step. I built it." Bulma answered proudly. "Imagine the universe being a sheet of paper. Instead of taking the long route from point A to B", she drew an invisible line across the table with her fingers, "you just take it and fold the sheet so both points are pressed against another. That's not how it works of course, but it's a good way to explain the principle."

Zura nodded. "Right. Can you do it again? Meaning, could I go back to Lokran?"  
"Well, sure. But why…"  
"I have my equipment there. And my ship. I won't abandon it, but I'd be glad if you could provide me with some tools and material so I can repair it."  
"Right. But I want to have a look at it myself." she said with a gleam of interest in her eyes.  
"Deal."

"You'll have to wait a couple of days though. We're still in the testing and evaluation takes a little. Especially since our first attempt ten days ago had been so disastrous, so we have to compare the data very carefully to find out what had gone wrong then."  
"Exactly ten days ago? Where precisely on Lokran did your Portal pop up? And what went wrong" Svenja asked, a look of apprehension on her face.  
Bulma blinked. "Yes, ten days. And the location was the same like this morning when we found you. As to what went wrong… I still don't know how it happened, but we had some kind of overlapping locations. That shouldn't be possible, and I honestly can't explain it… Hey, what's wrong?" She frowned and looked at them puzzled.

Zura cast a worried glance at Svenja who had turned pale. "What do you mean with overlapping locations?" she asked in a strangled voice, ignoring the woman's question.  
"Well, there were two locations. We saw two different places at the same time where there should have been only one." 

"What did the other place besides Lokran look like?" Zura asked when it became apparent his companion wouldn't and enhanced the pressure of his hand on her arm.  
"It was a city. It was night and raining. Could you tell me what the hell's wrong?" Their hostess demanded impatiently. "Did I grow another head or what?"  
Zura's mind reeled and he was unable to form words. He had wondered about the reason for them being stuck in Lokran in the first place for a long time, had come up with lots of different possibilities. But the source of all their trouble being a strange malfunction of a scientific experiment hadn't been one.   
"Shit." he managed to choke out. "Do you know what you did?" Staring at the blue haired woman he cut off her angry reply and told her about how they had ended up on the planet at exactly the same time the first experiment had turned awry and at the exact location her Portal had opened. After he had finished, stunned silence hung over the room.  
"That's just not possible." Bulma mumbled faintly after a while. Looking at the other woman she asked: "Are you _sure_ it was…"  
"Yes!" Svenja said forcefully, coming to life. Hectic red spots were forming on her white face and her eyes showed an almost feverish intensity. "I _am_ sure. You made it happen. That means you can reverse it." 

Bulma stared at her for a moment and then stood up. "Right. You stay here, I'll be back in a moment. I have to tell my colleagues about it." 

"Shit," Zura said with feeling when they were alone in the kitchen.  
"You can say that again." she growled, a multitude of emotions crossing her face in rapid succession.   
"How did you know?"  
"I didn't. It was a hunch." She balled her hand into a fist. "Remember the things we thought we'd do to the one who got us in that mess? I think we can just forget that. If it was an accident it's not her fault. And you know what's weird? I feel kinda cheated. I mean, I'm so majorly pissed off right now I can't even think straight! I finally find the source of the shit we've been in during the last days and I can't vent my anger!" She chuckled wryly. "I'm not making much sense, right? I should be glad we finally found the one responsible and that it wasn't on purpose. But instead I feel cheated. I want to break something!"  
"You make sense to _me_." he muttered, struggling with the same irrational emotions. "And about the venting," he extracted the coffee mug from her clenched hand, "you can always take me as a substitute target. It's what you did the whole time anyway."  
"I.. what?!" she asked indignantly and punched his arm. "See?" he sniggered. She started to grin and shook her head. "I'm a bitch, right?"  
"I'd rather not comment on that… Hey, stop!" He jerked when he felt fingers jabbing a sensitive spot on his side.  
"Are you ticklish?" she asked, astonished, and a wide grin began to spread over her face.  
"Yes." he said tersely, and watched her arms suspiciously.  
"Say," she asked after a few unsuccessful attempts to reach his side again, "how come you're taking it so lightly?"  
He frowned thoughtfully. "Not lightly. Only there's nothing we can do, so we have to make the best out of it."  
"You're an optimistic one."  
"No." he shook his head and grinned, "not optimistic. Stubborn."  
"I wouldn't have noticed," came the sarcastic reply.

The door opened again and Bulma entered the room, blinking at the sight of her two guests grinning and generally appearing to have a good time. "I told the others priorities have changed. They're comparing the data of  the two test-runs and looking for differences," she said and sat down, taking a deep breath. "Look, I'm sorry. What you told me seems impossible, but so is the overlapping of locations. We'll try our best to find out how it happened and a way to reverse it. Only I can't promise you anything. We didn't do it intentionally in the first place, so we don't really know what we're looking for. "   
"Thank you." Svenja nodded, her expression sober but without the underlying strain displayed minutes ago. "That's not how I want it to be, but it's a lot better than what I had a day ago."  
"Aren't you angry? _I_ would be for sure." Bulma asked, relieved but puzzled.  
"Oh, I was, and I still am in a way. But I found another way to let off steam," she said, abruptly moving her hand.  
"Bitch," Zura muttered and tried to relax again, glowering at the innocent look she gave him over the rim of her mug.  
"Didn't you say you wouldn't comment on it?"  
"Well, you seem to be in a better mood than I hoped." Bulma said amusedly. "Dinner will be in an hour. Zura got out of the Regeneration Tank earlier than we anticipated, so my mom had to change her cooking to satisfy the appetite of two Saiyans now instead of one.

Zura froze. "Two?" 

"Sorry, I should have told you another way." Bulma grimaced. "But yeah, two. You and Vegeta. He's living here, but he flew away to sulk somewhere a few hours ago, so I have no idea when he'll be back. But considering we estimated you coming out of the tank in half an hour I guess he'll be here shortly."

 "Vegeta?" he repeated in a strangled voice. There was only one Saiyan with that name. "_Prince _Vegeta?" But by all means that should be impossible. Prince Vegeta had been taken by Frieza, and after Frieza's empire had been destroyed no one had heard anything about the whereabouts of the prince. He was assumed dead, perished with Frieza's other followers.

"Yeah, the one and only," she snorted.  
"What?" Zura managed to croak, staring at her in disbelief. "I mean, he's alive?"  
"Yeah, very. And he'll want to have a talk with you, I 'm sure." Her gaze softened. "Small wonder. He thought there were no Saiyans left out there."  
"There are." Zura shook his head to clear his thoughts. "We're not many, only a few, and we're scattered. Not everybody managed to get to the planet in time after the King Vegeta summoned us back home. Those who were too far away when they received the call survived." Unwanted memories clouded his vision and he forced them away with difficulty.  
"Then why didn't you contact him?"  
He stared at her incredulously. "Are you kidding? He worked for the same guy who blasted our planet! We knew he hadn't gone willingly to serve under Frieza, but contacting him would have been too risky, both for us _and_ for him. We barely had contact with each other."

"You managed to hide well," a harsh voice came from the door. Zura recognised him instantly, the faces of the royal family being one of the first memories he'd had from people outside his family. He was a younger version of his father, the only difference was the smaller height, the lack of facial hair, and where King Vegeta's face had been fierce and arrogant, his son's was pissed off and arrogant.

"Come on, Svenja." Bulma said and stood up. "Let's go and see whether we can find something else for you to wear than my mom's old jogging clothes." Svenja cast a worried glance in his direction and followed Bulma out. "What was that all about?" he heard her ask before the door closed and he was alone with the prince.  
  



	11. New Problems

Disclaimer: Don't own DBZ. So don't sue.

AN: I just want to take the chance and give a huge THANKS to Hella once again, for her support and beta-reading :-)  
This chapter is dedicated to Biggi, (who probably won't read it for a while anyway) for all the trouble she went through with her diploma thesis. ;-)

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"What was that all about?" Svenja asked, confused, when the door closed behind her and Bulma. The last few minutes had been a bit strange, all she had been able to do was to follow the sensation and try not to look as stupid as she had felt. Somehow she suspected she hadn't succeeded.

"It's a bit complicated." Bulma answered and shot her a quizzical glance. "You don't know much about Saiyans, right?"  
"No. Until ten days ago I didn't even know they existed. Not only Saiyans, but also inhabited planets, highly developed space traffic. Hundreds of other species, aliens…" she trailed off when the image of the Alien queen of the movie popped into her mind. "Nah," she muttered and shook her head.   
"I haven't met any other Saiyans except Zura, so it's a bit hard to judge what of him is typical Saiyan or typical Zura," she continued. "It's wrong to judge a species by one individual, so…  All I really know about Saiyans is that they have tails, or at least I thought so. That Vegeta guy didn't have one, though."  
Bulma sighed. "Not anymore. He had one, but it was cut off some years ago. Okay, here are the facts, the short version. Vegeta's home planet was blasted out of space by Frieza, an evil alien that we managed to kill some time ago. Everybody on the planet died. Vegeta survived because he was working for Frieza at that time and wasn't on the planet's surface. There were two other Saiyans with him who were also killed when they came here. According to Vegeta he had been looking for survivors but never found any, or any information about them, so he was convinced there weren't any. Your Zura is the living proof he was wrong in this."  
Svenja's thoughts were in chaos. Total annihilation of a planet? Evil aliens? _Her Zura?_

Opting to ignore the latter she stuttered: "Wait a minute... Vegeta was working for the guy who killed his species?! Is he brain dead or something?"  
"Better not let him hear that." Bulma muttered and walked through another door. "I wasn't as if he had any choice in that. Look, I only know it second hand, and I don't know all the facts. I think it's better if you asked Zura about it or something. He probably has better knowledge about it."

Svenja nodded thoughtfully. Come to think of it, everything Zura had told her about him had happened in recent years. She knew nothing at all about his childhood. And she resolved to change that.  
"Say, if Vegeta thought there weren't any other Saiyans out there, shouldn't he be happy he wasn't right? He looked so angry. I mean, I'd probably be cart-wheeling with joy if I was him."

Bulma's mouth twitched. "This is Vegeta we're talking about," she said, trying to restrain herself from not bursting into laughter at the image. "He's… different."

"Ah. I see." Svenja said, and didn't. Any further questions fled her mind when Bulma opened a door to reveal a bathroom. Svenja mouthed an 'Oh' and her eyes zoomed in on the shower. They had cleaned her wounds and washed most of the dirt away that had accumulated on her skin, but seeing the shower made her realize how filthy she felt. Laughing out loud she hurried to explain when she saw Bulma's puzzled expression. "I just realized I take so many things for granted. I never thought I'd be so happy to see a shower. Or a real toilet." She shuddered, thinking back on Lokran and the remains of a building's foundation, only two rather low joint walls that she had declared as a makeshift privy.

Bulma regarded her with a mix of sympathy and curiosity. "You know, I'm really curious to hear what happened after you turned up on Lokran," she said and then shot a guilty glance at her. "Again, I'm sorry. I know what it's like to be suddenly caught up in things you had no intention to be in the first place."  
"I know." Svenja answered simply and nodded. It was hard to be angry at Bulma, considering she hadn't done it on purpose. Besides, she realized she started to like the blue-haired woman with her easy manner.

"Okay." Bulma said and looked at her thoughtfully. "I'll go get you some different clothes. Sorry about them," she gestured at the baggy jogging clothes Svenja wore, "but those were the only ones I could find in the med section. I somehow doubt you'd have waited for me to get something else back then, you were kinda… focussed."  
Svenja felt her cheeks heat up at the memory and mumbled a thanks. "Say," she asked before Bulma stepped out of the room, "you think they're alright?"  
"Yeah." Bulma nodded.

Stepping into the shower when Bulma had closed the door Svenja turned the water on, not caring that she was sprayed with cold droplets for the moment it took until the water heated up. She couldn't remember when something as simple and usual as a shower had been so pleasurable. Scrubbing and lathering until her skin was red  and her hair didn't feel anymore as if successions of rather messy birds had made their nest in it, she wondered about Bulma's doubtful expression when she had answered the last question. It had almost been as if the affirmative was meant not only for Svenja but also to convince herself. She hadn't really understood half of what was going on, but as far as she could see there was no reason for that Vegeta to be as angry as he had looked. Maybe it was only his usual expression, but Bulma's reaction made her think. She'd ask Zura later what that was all about, she decided and closed her eyes, enjoying the almost scalding water a minute longer.

  
A few minutes later she found herself sitting once again at the table in the kitchen and feeling a little dazed. Bulma had met her when she stepped out of the bathroom, and after declaring dinner was ready whisked her away to the kitchen and left her there with an elderly blonde she introduced as her mother. The woman was nice enough, chattering about meaningless things without expecting an active response as she set the table, managing to nullify any awkwardness Svenja might have felt being left alone with a complete stranger again. She had the usual friendly enthusiasm mothers displayed when they meet friends or acquaintances of their grown-up child. Still, Mrs. Briefs' voice had a certain frequency that set Svenja's teeth on edge, and she was glad when Bulma entered the room again and plopped down on a chair.  
"I told them dinner's ready. They'll come in a moment," she said and hungrily eyed the numerous dishes her mother set on the table.

Svenja could only stare at the pile of dishes and platters in front of her. Were they expecting some more people? The thought fled her mind instantly as the delicious smell of the food assaulted and overwhelmed her senses. Having spent days with the same boring and tasteless food ration that lacked even the faintest trace of flavour made her highly receptive for the mix of spices and herbs wafting up from the dishes, and it took all her self-control not to drool.  
"No sense in waiting." Bulma said cheerfully and filled her plate. "Help yourself before it's all gone."  
Svenja highly doubted that amount of food would be gone anytime soon but nevertheless accepted the offer gladly. The next minutes were filled with reintroducing her taste buds to flavours again, and she had a hard time forcing herself to eat slowly and savouring every bite.

When the door banged open suddenly and Vegeta and Zura entered she was munching contentedly on cheese-coated potatoes, and looked up, smiling happily. The smile shrivelled and died on her lips as she took in Zura's face. It was stony and devoid of all expression, his eyes cold and flat as they wandered across the room and its occupants without any apparent interest, sweeping over her as if she wasn't there.   
Vegeta looked as he had before, giving the impression of someone who had a root treatment on a daily basis.

The dinner took on a different mood when the two men sat down and attacked the food with a vengeance. Some kind of angry tension filled the air that silenced even Bulma's mother, who excused herself a short time later to see to her pets or something like that.   
Svenja chewed on her potatoes who had suddenly turned stale in her mouth and stared at Zura. It was as if some shutter had closed on him when she hadn't looked. She didn't recognise him anymore as the Zura she had come to know, he looked even more hostile and closed off than when they had first talked to each other on Lokran, when he had misinterpreted her attempt to measure his temperature as an attempt to kill him. She desperately wanted to ask what was wrong, but his expression and stance were so forbidding that the question died on her lips.

When he was finished he rose abruptly and directed his eyes at Bulma. "I need you to tell me what information you need to gather the materials and tools I need to repair my ship."  
"Alright," she said carefully, her eyes flickering uncertainly between him, Vegeta and Svenja. "I can give you a list in half an hour."  
He nodded curtly. "Good. I want get back to Lokran and be on my way as soon as possible." Then he turned around and walked briskly out of the room without a backward glance, followed a moment later by Vegeta.

Svenja sat at the table, her still half-filled plate forgotten, and stared at the door the two Saiyans had exited through seconds before.  
"What the hell was that?" Bulma asked, confused, and a foreboding glint appeared in her eyes.  
Svenja shook her head mutely, unable to grasp and comprehend what had happened in the last few minutes. "Could you…" she began and took a deep breath to steady her voice. "Could you tell me where I can sleep? I'm not feeling so well."  
The blue-haired woman shot her a worried look but nodded silently and led her to a room not far from the kitchen.   
"Here, take this one," she said gently. "Watch your step when you go out on the terrace, the pool's a few meters away from it. I meant to fix the light out there for some time, but since we usually only use it during daytime I always forgot it. Shorts and pyjamas are in the cupboard over there. I'll come to see you in the morning, okay?"  
Svenja nodded and made an attempt to smile. She obviously failed miserably, because Bulma regarded her quizzically.   
"Good night." Svenja said firmly, uncaring that it was a bit rude to more or less kick her hostess out of the room but desperately wanting to be alone before she lost her composure.

Understanding flickered through Bulma's gaze and she gave her a last smile before she left the room and shut the door behind her. The furrow that had appeared between her brows and the angry glare Svenja glimpsed on Bulma's face before the door closed bode nothing good for the next person crossing her path.

Sitting down abruptly on the edge of the soft bed she forced herself to breath evenly. Anger and self-loathing rushed through her in rapid waves when she felt wetness prickling behind her eyes, and she clenched her hands into fists. Since when was she so unstable? Couldn't a day pass without her starting to cry? When had she lost her  protective shell and became so sickeningly vulnerable? Gods, this felt like a constant state of PMS! What the fuck was _wrong _with her?  
Squeezing her eyes shut but unable to prevent the tears escaping them she let out a muffled sound of discontentment, something between a snarl and a small shriek.

Zura hadn't even acknowledged her presence, ignoring her as if she were a piece of furniture. Less than furniture. She just didn't understand it, Zura usually was very outspoken when something pissed him off, and she couldn't think of anything she had done that would make him act as cold and rejecting as he had.

  
'What did you expect?' as voice inside her head sneered. 'He only tolerated you because there was no one else on Lokran. And now that there are others, why should he bother with you? Idiot!'  
She batted the voice away, unwilling to believe it, but the thought took root in her mind. Wasn't that how it had always been, that she was always second choice, a kind of substitute person when others weren't available? She ignored the reasonable part of her mind that told her she was being narrow-minded and not honest with herself, and that her always being second choice had much to do with her not exactly being an easy person to deal with. 

  
He had said he wanted to be on his way as soon as possible. He. As in one person, singular. Sure, he hadn't promised her anything, he didn't say he'd help her finding her way back or waiting until she found a way, but still, it hurt. She had somehow thought what they had been through together had linked them in a way. But she understood now that this thought was one-sided. There was no link, no connection left, if there ever had been one.  
They had had the same goal, to find the source for their crashing, and now that they found it…   
She wasn't sure what she had expected, but him so eager to leave had certainly not been it. As soon as he repaired his ship he'd be gone, forever. Leaving toward the one or other space station or a job, getting together with acquaintances and old colleagues. Leaving her alone in a world she was unfamiliar with, with people she didn't know and a more than uncertain future. Abandoning her.

'_Stop it_!' she inwardly screamed at herself. 'He doesn't owe you anything. You don't owe him anything. So what are you whining about?!' But it was no use.   
Collapsing on the bed and muffling her sobs in a fluffy pillow she poured out her misery. She felt alone, utterly and completely alone. It was the agonizing loneliness a person feels despite being surrounded by other people, a kind of emotional isolation almost impossible to break out of. Trying to acknowledge she'd be alone again soon in and come to terms with the irrational feeling of betrayal she felt, she lay on the bed, watching a spectacular sunset through the large windows reaching to the floor without really seeing it.

  
Another sense of discomfort came and added to her misery. Her stomach cramped and shot spikes of pain thought her belly. "Shiiiit." she wailed miserably and curled her body when another wave of pain hit her and her stomach told her in no uncertain terms it absolutely didn't appreciate the rich and spicy dinner it was confronted with after spending several days on a diet of dull and plain rations.

Feeling like shit mentally and physically she stayed where she was, suspended in misery, until she couldn't take it any longer, and stumbled out of her room when the cramps abated briefly.   
Finding Bulma's mother in the kitchen she fended off her questions as polite as she could and returned minutes later to her room with a pot of fennel tea and a handful of caraway seeds she had begged off Mrs. Briefs. The tea and spice helped soothing her upset digestive tract within an hour, but her relief at the decreasing cramps was short-lived since it reminded her the other reason for her misery couldn't be taken care of that simply.

  
Spending hours laying on the bed and watching night fall over the planet and the house she calmed down enough to get her composure back. Sleep was out of question, she still felt upset, hurt and angry, but her will came back. She should have known better than to get wrong idea of companionship about a stranger who had only allied with her out of necessity. She had been blind, really. All her hurt and anger was her own fault, if she had seen things as they really were none of that emotional shit would have happened. 

Only, knowing those facts in theory and mind, and really feeling them were two totally different things. Still, she would cope.

A small voice in the back of her mind told her she hadn't thought things entirely through, that there were still some aspects that didn't make sense, like the way he had acted before she and Bulma had left the kitchen. She ignored it, feeling too exhausted mentally to brood over alternatives to her theory.   
Unbidden memories rose before her eyes, the easy way they had bantered in the kitchen when Bulma had left the room and the comforting feeling not to be alone in this mess. Zura when he stepped out of the Regeneration Tank, droplets of liquid clinging to his well-built body and glistening in the light. The way his muscles rippled when he moved…

"_Stop_!" she snarled and rolled out of the bed to stand in the middle of the room. "Masochist," she muttered scornfully at herself and shook her head violently to get rid off the images. She had enough things to deal with without her hormones creating another problem.

Straightening up she took a deep breath and looked out of the windows into the night outside, forcing herself to be completely honest with herself. She didn't know if she was right with her assumption. But she'd stick to it until it was proved wrong, which wouldn't happen.   
The only way to confirm or deny them would take actually talking with Zura. And that wouldn't happen, at least not with her taking initiative. She might be difficult and bitchy at times and too quick to pass judgement for her own good, but she still had her self-esteem. And Zura surely wouldn't come to talk to her of his own accord, that she was sure of. Why should he? 

Snorting derisively she opened the glass doors leading out to the terrace. Sitting down on the ground outside she leaned against the doors and watched the sky, hardening her heart and mind against every worst-case scenario that might come up.


	12. Confrontation

Disclaimer: See last chapter.

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Svenja blinked wearily and hoped the night would finally end. She felt exhausted but too edgy to get any real rest.  
It seemed like an eternity since she had retreated into her room and later outside onto the terrace, though it had probably just been an hour or so. Her eyes had gotten used to the lack of light and after her butt had turned uncomfortably cold from sitting on the ground she had stood up and wandered about the spacious yard her room faced.  
It was of rectangular shape, roughly twenty meters long and another thirty across. It was enclosed by the one-storied building on three sides, the last side opening to grassy ground she hadn't had the mind to explore. Terraces similar to hers were facing the patio in regular intervals on ground level, and above them rooms with balconies. She doubted they were used regularly, the curtains were drawn back in most of the rooms, making them appear as gaping black holes. In the middle of the yard and only two or three meters off from her terrace, as Bulma had told her, was a pool, the water's surface rippling slightly. 

In the darkness she couldn't guess how deep it was, and she had no notion to jump in and  find out.

Everything was dark and quiet, even the background noise of insects seemed muted, and her footsteps had sounded unnaturally loud. The whole scenery didn't exactly lighten her mood but fit it well enough.  
She had found a lounger standing to the side of the terrace, one of those comfy garden swings with canopies and enough space to let three or four persons sit next to each other without them getting their neighbours elbows rammed in their sides all the time. She had also found, or rather stumbled over,  some lawn chairs.   
The noise of them clattering to the ground had been deafening. When a few minutes later nothing had stirred yet and no lights had turned on she had dared to breathe again.

Unwilling to go back into her room she sat on the lounger and pulled her legs up, shivering only slightly in the cool night air. It felt warm compared to the last days on Lokran, when her head had ached almost constantly with the cold wind howling through the ruins.  
She shoved the memory away determinedly. She didn't want to think about Lokran now, that unfortunate chapter of her life was over and done with, she told herself firmly.

A glance upwards revealed no increase of light creeping up the sky to herald dawn. Just like when she had last looked, about a minute ago.   
Grumbling to herself she got up and went back in her room to use the bathroom and get some blankets. True, it wasn't that cold really, but she saw no reason why she shouldn't be comfortable in at least one aspect.

  
When she stepped out again with her attention being mainly on not tripping over the trailing end of one blanket, she didn't see the figure standing on the opposite side of the pool at once. Stopping in her tracks she felt her stomach clench. The light was by far not sufficient to make out the person's features, but Svenja highly doubted there were two persons in the compound with that height, body posture and hairstyle. And a tail.  
She stiffly resumed her way to the lounger, seething inwardly. What the hell did he want out here, in the middle of the night? Why did he intrude on her personal space? Nothing here belonged her in the sense of property, true, but she felt that this night out here was her own, not to be disturbed. And especially not by _him_. She had no idea what his business out here was, but she sure as hell didn't want to ask. Couldn't he go somewhere else, preferably far away? She wasn't _ready_ for this. 

His head had turned sharply when she had resumed walking, and it took all her willpower not to react in any way, to just ignore him and let out a little of her irritation by throwing the blankets on the lounger with a little more force than was necessary.   
Maybe he'd just go away.   
Yeah right, she snorted inwardly, and gritted her teeth in frustration and apprehension when she heard his footsteps coming closer.

There was no way to put it off, so she steeled herself and turned around to face him. Resentment boiled up in her, at him because he was the reason for her misery, but mainly at herself for being such an idiot and let it come to this in the first place.

He must have seen something on her face, for his steps grew slower and he stopped two meters away, where the terrace ended and the rest of the yard began. His face lay in the shadows and she couldn't discern his features. 

With his actions of the evening before he had inadvertently made her see her own naivety, and her false assumptions he'd see things the way she did, a notion born out of ignorance and the unrealistic thought that her own norms would apply to him.   
No one likes to have their faults and mistakes rubbed in their face, and self-defence kicked in. Seeing the source of her insomnia and frustration standing so close, facing him for the first time since the evening before, her confusion and conflicting emotion transformed into anger, knocking common sense aside. 

"What do you want?" she demanded in an unfriendly tone, annoyed at his silence and wanting to get over with whatever he wanted as fast as possible. 

Zura moved back a step, and the little moonlight that transformed the yard into a surreal landscape of obscure shadows illuminated his face with the changed position. Perplexity was briefly apparent in his face and he blinked once.

 "Well?" she snapped coldly when he didn't answer right away and crossed her arms, pressing them close to her else they'd take on a life of themselves and poke his eyes out or something similarly stupid.

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Nothing specific," he answered finally, his voice as guarded as his features.

"Oh, really? Well, you got it," she said curtly, fighting down an irrational disappointment at his answer. What had she expected? That it would all turn out to be a big misunderstanding and everything would be good again? Hardly. "Was there anything else?" 

Something flashed in his eyes before they grew unreadable and changed into obscure pools of darkness.   
"No." he said flatly and turned around, stepping away from her. 

'That's it, then,' she thought bitterly and squeezed her eyes shut. Despite the anger still churning inside her, she couldn't deny the pain of something irrevocably lost twisting her insides. That had probably been the very last conversation she would have with him, ever, and it couldn't have turned out worse. And most of it had been her own doing. 'There's no helping it. Deal with it.' She repeated the mantra that had kept her sane the first days on Lokran, only this time they didn't really help.

Her eyes snapped open when she realized his steps had stopped and then resumed, faster than before. Coming closer.   
What the…  
She looked into a grim face with eyes that burned with determination and anger as her shoulders were suddenly caught in a hard grip. "What", he hissed, "is wrong with you?"   
For a moment she stood stunned, staring up at him helplessly. Then she ripped her arms away forcefully. "Keep your hands away from me! Nothing is wrong. Absolutely nothing!" she spat angrily, stubbornly resisting the urge to take a step back.   
"I don't believe you," he growled, narrowing his eyes dangerously.

"What?!" She gaped at him in disbelief for a moment before outrage contorted her features. "Now listen, sweetie," she hissed venomously and took two steps forward that brought her nose to nose with him, "I don't give a shit what _you believe or not. Is that clear?! Now FUCK OFF!" With the last yelled words she pushed him away from her hard, her indignation and fury lending her strength.  
He obviously hadn't expected anything of that sort, else she'd have probably sprained her wrists or something. But she actually succeeded in making him stumble backwards, with his arms flung out widely to regain his balance when his foot caught at the tiny elevation separating the terrace from the yard._

Svenja's eyes grew large and when she saw what would happen, and she automatically stepped forward, half-raising her arm. Too late. "Oh fuck…" she breathed.  
With an exclamation and a loud splash Zura vanished in the pool.   
'I must ask him how deep it is.' she thought hysterically, feeling dismay rising in her. She hadn't wanted that to happen, but that didn't matter.

She was in very deep shit now.

Unable to move Svenja stood rigid and watched him break the surface. His hands slapped on the pool's edge and with a single powerful pull he propelled himself up and out of the water, landing on the pool's rim in a crouch. He rose from with a graceful motion that was almost feline, giving her the image of a very wet and very pissed-off god of vengeance as he advanced on her. His tail was bristled to twice its normal size and lashed angrily behind him, spraying the ground with water.

Until that moment she hadn't believed he would hurt her, despite the complete change he had undergone in the short time he had talked to Vegeta. But seeing his furious expression and bared teeth, appearing unnaturally white with in the contrasting darkness of the night, she wasn't so sure anymore. He had never looked so mad, not even when they had first talked on Lokran. And that was when he had thought she wanted to kill him! She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry.

Her shoulders were gripped again, painfully, and she looked into eyes burning with fury and something else she couldn't quite make out. "Now", he snarled, his nose mere centimetres away from hers," you will tell me exactly what the fuck is going on. Everything and in detail. Is that clear?"  
Svenja swallowed again and then raised her chin. "No." She said, cursing the wavering in her voice and gave up her struggling against his grip after a few seconds. Something flashed across his eyes and he sneered at her. "See the advantages. When you're finished explaining, I might just go away and never bother you again. After all, that's what you want so badly, right?"

"No! I don't want that. _You_ do!" she yelled, and felt her face losing colour as she realized what she had let blurted out. For a second she wished for a convenient wall nearby so she could repeatedly beat her head against it. 

"I do?" he asked flatly, his expression never changing.

"Yes, you do. You said so." she said and shook her head angrily. "Gods, stop playing games with me, please."

"Playing…" He jerked his head irritatedly to fling dripping skeins of hair out of his face, splattering her face with droplets of water. "What are you talking about? I said nothing of that sort. Speak plainly, dammit!" He stared at her for a second and let out a frustrated growl. "Listen," he said, shaking her a little for emphasis. "_Listen_! Talk to me, dammit! I think I deserve an explanation."  
"Stop shaking me, asshole!" She snarled and kicked his shin fiercely, feeling a spark of satisfaction when she saw him flinch and felt his grip loosen a bit. "Serves you right," she muttered and succeeded in twisting one arm out of his grasp.

Then she paused, becoming fully aware of the absurdity of the situation when her common sense came back and reclaimed its part in her mind. She wanted him to go away, right? And he wanted an explanation There was certainly nothing to lose when she told him, but a lot to gain - namely him leaving her alone and thus getting rid of what his presence did to her emotional equilibrium. And it would also give her an opportunity to vent her frustration on its source, something she'd surely never again get a chance to. 

"You want to know what's wrong?" She slapped the remaining hand on her shoulder away, too angry to wonder why she succeeded so easily and bared her teeth at him. "That's easy. I'm… I'm so mad I can't even think straight anymore! I…. argh!" Breathing heavily she shook her head, the ability to express herself suddenly abandoning her.

 "Listen," she said through gritted teeth, struggling to for coherent sentences and realizing with a sinking feeling she started to babble. "Most of it is my fault, and I suppose it's not exactly fair to lay the blame all on you, but I don't give a fucking damn! Because _you_, mister," she poked his chest hard, "you were the trigger. And …"

"Stop!" he hissed and held up his hand, and to her amazement she felt her mouth snap shut. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I obviously did something that pissed you off a lot, so much I could understand from your ranting. Look, I don't like this here any more than you do, so spit it out, dammit! Why are you mad at me? I want a simple answer, mind you. Only the basic reason," he demanded. 

"Because you were such an asshole last night! Because you'll go away and leave me here!" She heard herself yell when her self-control decided it had enough of this shit and went on a coffee-break.

There. She had said it. It was out in the open, and once again without her wanting it.   
'If he laughs at me I'll deck him!' she promised herself grimly and with rising mortification.

Somewhere not far away a window banged open. "Keep it down, fuck you!" A voice roared out into the night, followed by an angry, "Vegeta! Shut the damn window again!" coming from Bulma.

Zura's head whipped up towards the origin of the voices, a cold glint in his eyes, and he spat a few harsh sentences in a language Svenja didn't understand, but with an animosity in his voice that chilled her. Stunned silence followed, then the window was slammed shut with a bang that echoed around the yard.

"What was that?" she asked bewildered, her anger momentarily forgotten at the odd scene she had just witnessed.

"Nothing important." he muttered darkly and then turned his head back, shooting her a quizzical glance. "What makes you think that?"  
"You're not making this any easier, you know?" she muttered exasperatedly. "You said you wanted to go back to Lokran and be on your way as fast as possible."

He blinked. "Yes. And?" he asked.

Unable to form a response Svenja stared at him in disbelief and wondered whether he was really that dense or whether he got a kick out of seeing her squirm.

His eyes widened suddenly and the puzzlement in his gaze was replaced by dawning comprehension. "Oh."   
He blinked at her in surprise. "Now wait a second, let me get this straight. You were bitching at me and acted like a mad Saoshd because you thought I'd go away?" he asked incredulously.

Svenja had no clue who or what a Saoshd was, but she highly doubted it was something flattering. "Well yes," She muttered. "But it's not as if you said anything different in the first place, in fact you said nothing at all about it, since we never thought we'd end up here, so…" she trailed off, feeling incredibly stupid and acutely embarrassed at having lost her temper like this when she had no real justification to be angry. But her hurt and frustration were still there, and the conflict between common sense and her emotions confused her greatly.

Zura began to tremble softly, a barely discernable tremor that intensified quickly. The corners of his mouth twitched and he finally broke out in helpless laughter, grabbing the side of the lounger for support.

'Gods, no!' Svenja thought faintly and wished the ground would open and swallow her. Her hands balled themselves to fists and she fought back tears of embarrassment and helpless rage. 

"I hate you so much!" she whispered silently and looked away.

Her arms were grabbed suddenly, and she looked up in startlement to see Zura grinning at her. "And here I thought it was something serious!"  
"Wha…" she started offended, but got interrupted when she was suddenly pulled forward and crushed to a damp shirt. "You stupid fuck," he said affectionately and squeezed her hard. 

Svenja heard her breath wheeze out of her lungs at the pressure but didn't notice it. She stood wide-eyed and stiffly with her face pressed against the wet fabric, feeling utterly and completely lost. "Er…" she finally managed to get out, the syllable matching her current state of mind perfectly.  
He drew her back a bit and grinned down at her, shaking his head slightly. "You really had me worried there for a while, you know?"   
"Gah…?" she managed to utter in an impressive impersonation of a caveman suddenly confronted with an electric toaster or something, and tried to make sense of the last minute.

He looked at her quizzically. "Sit." he ordered, pushing her back and down the lounger's seat. Blinking she came out of her short-time stupor and grabbed a handful of shirt before he could move back. "I don't understand!" she managed to get out, relieved that at least her ability of coherent verbal communication was back again.  
"That's obvious." he said dryly, trying to pry the shirt from her fist, and shot her an amused look. "I had no intention of leaving, at least not for long."  
"But you said…"  
"Yes, I have to get back to Lokran, I have to repair my ship. But" he grinned at her, "Lokran is only 4 days away from here, providing I can boost my engines a little and take some short-cuts. And will you let go of that damn shirt? It's not mine, you know?"

Svenja let him pull the wet textile from her suddenly nerveless fingers.

She had been an idiot. She _was_ an idiot.

The fact that she couldn't have known about his plans to fly back here with his ship didn't give her any comfort. Relief that he had wanted to come back was drowned by a burning sense of shame at having made such a fool of herself and the humiliation at the knowledge that probably everybody within 100 meters knew what a stupid moron she was.

"Hey!" his voice ripped her out of her thorough wallowing in self-pity.  
"What?" She asked miserably and twisted the hem of her sleeve, wondering how she would survive the following days without dying of mortification whenever she looked at someone.

"Were you really that upset because you thought I'd leave?" he asked curiously.

"Don't get any ideas!" she said defensively and hoped the lack of light would hide her reddening face "I just didn't want to be stuck in yet another place without someone I know."

"Right."

"Not that you're exactly the best company, mind you, but since there's no one else I can't be choosy or something."

"Right."

"Besides, we still don't know whether you were some external factor in the malfunction of Bulma's machine or not."

"Right."

"I swear, one more 'right' and I throw you back into the pool!" she growled and shot him a withering glare that was answered by an innocent raising of eyebrows. The effect was somehow diminished by the twitching at the corners of his mouth. "Asshole." she muttered and crossed her arms in a huff. 

"Sorry..." he muttered, trying vainly to wipe the grin off his face.   
"Say," he asked after regaining control over his features if not his voice, "why didn't you just ask what I meant with going to Lokran? You never had any problems pestering me with questions."

 "Ask you?" Svenja exclaimed incredulously. "Do you really think I had wanted to talk to you after yesterday? You left the kitchen right after you made your statement, and the way you acted at dinner wasn't exactly inviting, you know? You looked ready to bite the head off the next person who even looked at you the wrong way! What the hell happened to you?!"

"So that's why." he nodded thoughtfully and straightened himself, his tail making an odd trembling movement that shook the remaining droplets of water out of the fur. "I want to put on some dry clothes first, if you don't mind, it's getting a bit chilly out here."

"Um… sorry about that." she mumbled sheepishly. "But I don't want to keep you from sleeping or something." 

"I'm not tired anymore. I only came out in the first place because some crash woke me up and I wanted to know what it was."

"Oh." she coughed, wondering when the blood in her body would finally leave the area of her face. "That was me. I... er.. found the lawn chairs."

 "I should have known." he sniggered with mirth and stepped out of the puddle of water that had formed around his feet. "Be right back!" And with that he walked away quickly, casting the pool a dark glare on his way.  
Silence descended once again over the yard. Svenja closed her eyes and rested her head against the lounger's back, trying to catch on what had happened in the last half an hour or so. She had went from misery to anger, astonishment, embarrassment and had somehow ended up talking to Zura with the same comfortable ease as she had 24 hours before. She felt strangely content, but couldn't fully quieten the nagging worry that she was maybe lying to herself again.

Zura came back a few minutes later, his hair in disarray from the attempt to towel it dry and sticking out in weird angles, and she bit back a snigger. "Look what I have!" he beamed, waving a large thermos and two mugs. "Bulma's mother told me she'd prepared some coffee, just in case someone wanted any."

Svenja blinked. Right…. she dimly remembered Mrs. Briefs telling her something similar when she had shuffled bent-over into the kitchen to beg for tea and spice. She had also said something about where to find pastries and cookies if she had any sudden appetite for them. The older woman had certainly some strange ideas about midnight snacks, but considering the quantities of food she had seen the two men wolf down yesterday, the notion wasn't really that odd.

She took the offered mug with a thankful smile and waited until he had settled himself on the lounger, careful not to spill his coffee. 

 "What happened yesterday when you talked to Vegeta? What did he say to piss you off like that?" she asked quietly after a short silence.

He sighed and leaned his head back, making the lounger swing gently as he absently pushed against the ground with his feet. "It's not only what he said." he began after taking a sip of the steaming liquid. "It's also how he said it. And what he presumed. I don't know what Bulma told you or what she knows. You were there yesterday when I talked to her, so you already know Vegeta worked for Frieza. That was the one who blew our planet up. And Vegeta…." he trailed off, growling in annoyance. "I was so stunned when I found out he was still alive. Not especially sad or happy, just… amazed. It happened so long ago, the destruction of our planet. I don't really feel any closer to the rest of the survivors than I do to other people. The fact that we're of the same species doesn't weigh that much to me, to be honest. It's nice to know they're out there, sure, but nothing more. But Vegeta was…. not really what I expected."   
He snorted and made an angry gesture, and she quickly reached out a hand to steady his mug when its contents threatened to spill. 

"Sorry," he muttered and licked some droplets of coffee from his hand. "Anyway. That guy still lives in the past. Maybe it's because he's royalty or something, or maybe he's just refusing to see reality. Or both, I don't know. I think he still sees himself as a ruler somehow, even though he didn't know about any survivors before yesterday. You'd think he'd be glad to hear that some Saiyans other than him survived planet Vegeta's destruction. I mean, it'd only be natural, right? I remember how happy I was when I met another survivor for the first time. It was good to know there was someone out there belonging to the same species. We only met briefly, but it made me feel… dunno, not alone, in a way." He stared in his mug, apparently lost in memories.

"And Vegeta wasn't?" Svenja prompted gently after a while. She was mesmerized by his tale, getting for the first time some glimpses from his background and early past.

"Vegeta," he repeated in a voice that dropped several degrees in temperature. "No, he wasn't. To make it short, he called us survivors cowards for not contacting him." Anger twisted his face and he exhaled in a sharp hiss.  
"He said even an idiot should have known that Frieza wasn't blind. He said it was the biggest mistake his father could make, calling all Saiyans back to the home planet to start the rebellion, that Frieza had spies everywhere. And he said everybody heeding his father's summon were utter fools, and since they ran into their death with open eyes they probably deserved nothing better."   
He abruptly lifted his mug and emptied it in a few gulps, his face livid with anger. "If Bulma hadn't come in at that moment to tell us dinner was ready I don't now what would have happened."  
 Svenja gaped and stared at his profile. "What?! He can't possibly mean that, right?!"

"I don't know." he answered quietly. "He wasn't exactly reasonable at that point. But I don't really care, to be honest.  Saying it, he belittled not only his father's attempt to stand against Frieza, but also the deaths of thousands of his people who were very well aware of what they risked when they came back…" he broke off, breathing heavily.

 "Oh shit." She breathed, unable to grasp how someone could be so seriously fucked-up. The initial dislike she had felt for Vegeta turned into a full-fledged aversion.

"Yeah," he agreed, turning his empty mug in his hands. "I was so mad, I couldn't even think! I only wanted to get away from that asshole."

"I didn't know. I'm sorry." she whispered unhappily and hung her head. She should have known there had been a valid reason for Zura to act like he did. She shouldn't have jumped to so self-centred conclusions so quickly. "Of course you didn't know. That's why I told you," he retorted and nudged her. "Are you going to drink that coffee or not?"

"Don't change the topic." she muttered and swallowed the warm liquid. "I feel like shit."

"Don't," he said firmly, picking up the thermos and refilled the mugs. "You have no reason. It's over and done with, and I came to terms with it, mostly. He still makes me angry as hell, but as far as I'm concerned he might as well be dead as I think of him. I don't feel any connection to him." 

"But still…." she sighed, not really comforted by his statement, "I somehow wish we were back on Lokran. Stupid, isn't it?"

"Not at all," he shook his head. "If we were still there none of this would have happened. But see the advantages. We found the one responsible for us being on Lokran in the first place, can eat normal food, your fever is gone…" He flashed her a grin, his dark mood from moments before gone. "Besides, I'd have never found out you'd be so… upset at the idea of me leaving."

_Damn_! She felt her ears start to burn. She had secretly hoped he'd miraculously forget that particular piece of information.

"Hey! I _told _you it was…" she started indignantly but stopped at the sight of barely controlled mirth in his face. "Well, it's good to see one of us having fun at my expense!" she growled with dripping sarcasm.

"Oh yes, I do." he sniggered, not fazed by her scowling. "Oh, come on, stop sulking." He nudged her and shot her a sly grin. "Say… would you feel any better if I told you that I kinda like you a little, too?"

Svenja snapped her jaw shut that seemed to have come unhinged suddenly. "Er…I suppose…" she stuttered, wondering how it was possible that a warm feeling spread in her belly when every drop of blood seemed to have gathered in her face.

"See? Now we're even." he winked at her, and saved her from any further possible embarrassment by rearranging the cushions and shifting on his seat until his back leaned against the lounger's side, and his legs drawn up from the ground and stretched out. "Hey," he drawled and cocked his head, "how about some compensation for wanting to drown me?"

Svenja's eyebrows shut up and she gave him a blank look, blatantly refusing to start guessing what he meant with that after some rather interesting but quite disconcerting images flashed across her inner vision.   
"Oh really, must I do everything by myself…" he grumbled and reached out suddenly, grabbing and pulling her sideways and back until she found herself in the familiar position pressed against his chest. Blinking up at him in bewilderment she obeyed without delay when he explained, "I'm cold, stupid. Use those blankets, will you?"

Settling back against his warm body and feeling unexplainably happy she closed her eyes, content to just stay like this. Whatever awkwardness may come next morning when she met the others, right now she felt she could deal with it.


End file.
